Australia quick Scott Boland dismissed dropped opening batter Sam Konstas for the sixth time in the Sheffield Shield clash between Victoria and New South Wales today (November 11).
The final round of the Sheffield Shield before the 2025/26 Ashes is underway, with most of Australia's Test players participating to get some first-class game time under their belt. Boland, who missed the last round, is back for Victoria and had an impact early in the game.
The NSW team, boasting of heavyweights Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, and Nathan Lyon, couldn't prevent Victoria from putting up 382 on the board. Starc (4-91) and Lyon (4-82) took four wickets each while Hazlewood went wicketless.
In response, NSW lost opener Ryan Hicks early, as he fell to off-spinner Todd Murphy in the 14th over. Three overs later, Boland castled Sam Konstas with a peach, going through his bat-pad gap to clip the top of the off-bail. This brought an end to a painstaking knock which lasted 59 balls but fetched only 12 runs for Konstas, as he continued to struggle against Boland, falling to the veteran seamer for the sixth time in his career.
Two rounds ago, Boland had trapped Konstas lbw for a four-ball duck. In fact, Konstas has faced up against Boland in six first-class matches, and the right-arm seamer has dismissed him at least once in each of the six games.
Konstas has not been picked for the first Ashes Test, with uncapped South Australia opener Jake Weatherald being preferred instead. While the young NSW opener did make a hundred for Australia A in India two months back, he has had a tough outing in the Sheffield Shield this season, registering scores of 4, 14, 0, 53, 10, 41, and 12.
Also read: 'Can he cover drive?' - Former Australia captain says Konstas needs to shelve 'the bloody ramp shot'
His dismissal brought captain Steve Smith to the crease, who held fort as others fell around him. Smith was the ninth wicket to fall at the score of 124, having made 57 himself. NSW were eventually bowled out for 128, with Boland taking 2-27 and Sam Elliot taking 5-26.
Match 10, New South Wales vs Victoria
vs
- Ball by ball Over
Watch Boland v Konstas in the Sheffield Shield here:
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