Renshaw, Burns guide Queensland to easy win

Renshaw scored an unbeaten, match-winning half-century © Getty

Unbeaten half-centuries from Matt Renshaw and Joe Burns guided Queensland to an easy seven-wicket win over South Australia in the domestic one-day cup at Brisbane on Tuesday (September 24). Once the bowlers set the tone with a disciplined effort where they bowled out South Australia for just 226, the batsmen chased down the total with ease with 85 balls to spare.

Mark Steketee vindicated his captain's decision to bowl first by breaching Callum Ferguson's defence in just the fifth over of the innings. Jake Weatherald and Jake Lehmann batted cautiously over the next ten overs, adding 42 runs in the process before Billy Stanlake broke the stand. Weatherald was then involved in another 42-run partnership with wicketkeeper-batsman Alex Carey to reach a safe position at the halfway mark.

The second half of the innings though belonged to the bowling side. Part-timer Matt Renshaw first removed Weatherald and three overs later, it was Carey's turn to depart. Tom Cooper stood tall at one end but Matthew Kuhnemann and Billy Stanlake kept striking regularly to dent South Australia. Cooper eventually made a half-century and Joe Mennie's enterprising 21-ball 31 helped South Australia go past the 200-run mark.

Queensland made a contrasting start to their innings chasing 227 as the openers Sam Heazlett and Max Bryant went after the South Australia bowling attack. Bryant in particular was very severe smashing six fours to race to a 20-ball 32. Kane Richardson provided his side some relief by getting rid of Bryant before Heazlett took over. The opener departed soon after reaching his half-century and in the very next over, Marnus Labuschagne fell to give the visitors some hope.

However, Renshaw and Burns ensured there were no hiccups as the pair stitched a 114-run stand to guide their side home. They took little time to settle down and kept finding the boundary at regular intervals despite the double-wicket setback to quickly turn the tide in their favour again. While Renshaw remained unbeaten on 52 off 55 deliveries, Burns finished on 65* off 71 balls.

Brief scores: South Australia 226 in 48.5 overs (Tom Cooper 62, Jake Weatherald 44; Billy Stanlake 3-38, Matthew Kuhnemann 3-39) lost to Queensland 227/3 in 35.5 overs (Joe Burns 65*, Matt Renshaw 52*; Cameron Valente 1-19) by seven wickets