Victoria have kept their JLT Cup chances alive in stunning fashion at North Sydney Oval on Sunday, defeating New South Wales by 35 runs via Duckworth/Lewis method.
With Victoria 4-108 in pursuit of New South Wales' 144 all out, the umpires came together following the 26th over and decided to abandon the match, citing "conditions were dangerous and there was an actual and foreseeable risk to the safety of any player participating in the match" per JLT Rule 2.7.2, a Cricket Australia spokesperson said.
A Cricket Australia investigation is underway and New South Wales haven't ruled out protesting the result as Victoria claimed a bonus point from the match, proving vital in the top-three placings for the upcoming finals series.
After winning the toss and electing to bat, Daniel Hughes was unable to back up his century from the previous game as Scott Boland claimed his wicket for three in the fourth over.
Kurtis Patterson joined Nic Maddinson at the crease as the pair put on a 40-run stand before Chris Tremain and youngster Will Sutherland ran through the Blues' middle order, restricting New South Wales to 9-104 in the 34th over.
Sutherland claimed figures of 4-11 off 5.2 overs as Fawad Ahmed claimed three scalps as Doug Bollinger top scored for the Blues with 30 off 33 balls to give them a somewhat defendable total.
Mitchell Starc then struck early for the Blues as Marcus Harris departed for two and put the Blues in a strong position, dismissing Travis Dean and Peter Handscomb in quick succession to have the Bushrangers reeling at 3-28.
Matt Short's 43 off 50 balls ensured the Bushrangers total would keep ticking along and despite Bollinger dismissing him with the score on 66, Blake Thomson and Seb Gotch steadied the ship, putting the Bushrangers back in control of the game.
The result put Victoria in third position on 15 points, two points behind both Western Australia and South Australia.
