The Wade ton that almost created a miracle

TIGERS captain p Matthew Wade p produced one of his g greatest individual knocks to almost deliver the state ththe fourth biggest gg Sheffield Shield run chase in history. y Unfortunately y his 134 was not enough g to lift Tasmania p past its mammoth 454-run 454- run target g against g Western Australia, with the 52-run 52- run defeat ending endin their season.

ONE of Matthew Wade’s most breathtaking knocks will reignite his Ashes claims, but some last-day heroics against Western Australia were still not enough to save Tasmania’s Sheffield Shield season.

Wade continued his golden summer with arguably the best century of his career to give the Tigers a genuine tilt at mowing down the fourth highest run chase in the competition’s history. However his incredible 134 and Ben McDermott’s 69 — the duo combined for a 183run, fifth-wicket stand — ended in vain as the hosts came up 52 short of their 454run target.

When the pair joined forces at 4-136 following the dismissal of debutant Sean Willis just after lunch, the required run rate was creeping above five an over as the Warriors turned the screws. But after resetting by getting to drinks the pair exploded in the second hour, peeling off 102 runs in 14 overs leading into tea.

Wade was dropped on 97 at fine leg just after the resumption before reaching his century two balls later, and even the introduction of the second new ball failed to stem the flow of runs as the gritty left-hander put his foot on the accelerator.

In one over he twice planted Matthew Kelly on the roof of the Ricky Ponting Stand, but just when the Tigers had WA reeling it was a Hobart Hurricane who delivered a dagger.

David Moody had Wade caught at first slip, ending an innings which saw him score his final 101 runs from 81 balls.

The final nail came three overs later when McDermott edged Joel Paris behind with 119 runs still required, with a fighting 47 from Test captain Tim Paine getting the hosts as close as they did before running out of partners with 47 balls left in the day.

“Disappointed we couldn’t get the runs but proud of the way we went about it, it wasn’t the ideal start this morning losing two straight up, but to chase 350 in a day is still a really good effort, especially with the Dukes ball,” Wade said.

“The wicket kept getting better and we were still in it right to the end, if myself or McDermott could have batted a touch longer, five more overs in the end would have made a big difference.

“We made the decision midway through the second session … I ran a message back up and said ‘ now is the time, if we are going to get these we need to accelerate now’.”