Victoria 106 (Bell 4-21) and 18 for 0 need 424 more runs to beat Tasmania 240 and 307 (Webster 167*)
It left Victoria chasing a whopping 442 for victory at a bowler-friendly Blundstone Arena. Webster was the hero on Saturday, cracking an unbeaten 167 off 180 balls as Tasmania recovered from 71 for 6 and 154 for 9 to reach 307 in their second innings.
Webster cracked 22 boundaries and four sixes in his blistering knock.
“I chanced my arm a little bit. That’s the way I play, especially when the ball is nipping around,” Webster said. “My defence isn’t that great, so I’ve got to play some shots, and today it came off nicely. It was good fun batting with the boys down the order.”
Webster has 840 runs this Shield season at an average of 70 and tallrounder still harbours hopes of representing Australia in Test cricket.
“I’ll keep plugging away here and keep putting numbers on the board,” he said. “If anything comes, that would be great. But a Shield would mean the most to me at the moment.”
Victoria are second on the table, but a loss to Tasmania could leave them leapfrogged by Western Australia with just one round remaining.
Captain Will Sutherland was left to rue his side’s inability to wrap up Tasmania’s second innings.
“It was looking quite good there for a while,” Sutherland said. “Credit to Beau Webster and Riley there, they batted really well. We just couldn’t quite get that last wicket. That’s cricket.
“We’re still in it. Even if it doesn’t go our way this game, we know we can win the last one. We’ll keep our heads up and hopefully have a good day tomorrow.”
Victoria, who started Saturday at 81 for 7 in their first innings, were bowled out for 106. Webster was only on 16 when Tasmania’s sixth wicket fell in their second innings and he steadied the ship with a 70-run seventh-wicket stand with Jarrod Freeman.
But it was the last-wicket salute with Meredith that truly knocked the wind out of Victoria, with the pair cashing in to get the lead above 400.
Webster was in such good touch he smacked paceman Mitchell Perry onto the Ponting Stand roof with one magnificent heave. Perry was so flustered he ended the day with 12 no-balls to his name, including three in one over.
