Date-stamped : 29 Mar95 - 14:32 SS 1994/95 : New South Wales v South Australia Played at the SCG, 16,17,18,19 March 1995 ====> Day 1, 16 Mar 95 In a day where rain played a part, South Australia finished on 8/286 after earlier seemingly set for a bigger score. Only Brayshaw (53) passed fifty as the South Aussies won the toss and batted on a good pitch. Johnson (38) and Nobes (24) started well as they added 62 for the first wicket, before Nobes had his stumps uprooted by NSW`s ultra-competitive all-rounder Neil Maxwell. Maxwell chimed in for his second wicket with the score on 81 as Johnson fell caught at short leg by Rod Davison. SA could have been in more strife immediately as Darren Lehmann pushed the first ball he faced straight to Davison where he ap- peared to catch the ball in one hand. Amid cries of "come on, he`s out" umpire Bill Cameron ruled it not out and Lehmann con- tinued his innings. With Skipper Jamie Siddons, the robust left hander added 62 for the third wicket until he fell victim to a suspect LBW appeal, off of the off-spinner Greg Matthews for 40. SA were 3/143 and Lehmann was out for 40. Siddons followed just 15 runs later, as he spooned a ball from Thompson to Davison at cover point. It was a loose shot and Siddons looked most disappointed with himself as he made his way to the pavilion. Siddons was well set when dismissed for 30. James Brayshaw was joined by Darren Webber and these two took to the attack, with Webber hitting three fours and two sixes in his 30, before he went to Freedman, brilliantly caught by Maxwell. The all-rounder showed the reflexes of a soccer goal keeper, div- ing mid-air to his left to hold a fantastic catch. This made SA 5/209. Nielsen came to the wicket and played sttackingly. Brayshaw brought up his fifty but he too fell for 53, and Nielsen after batting well played a loose shot to be dismissed for 43. Jason Gillespie was the eighth wicket to fall in the day for three, and SA closed the day on 8/286. Close: SA 8/286 (93 overs, McIntyre 2, George 1) ====> Day 2, 17 Mar 95 South Australia continued on to make 301 in their first innings. Maxwell finished with 3/48 and Thompson, Stuart and Matthews wnded with two wickets each. NSW began their innings poorly with Davison being trapped in front by George for just two and NSW were 1/9. Bevan joined Arn- berger and these two went along well until Arnberger fell to left arm quick Harrity for 22. Roberts was next to go for 19 bowled by George and NSW were 3/92. Matthews came in and he and Bevan provided the best batting for the day. They added 69 for the fourth wicket, before Bevan became Harrity`s second victim caught by Johnson for 77. Young fell shortly after and the Blue-Baggers were 5/185. For a time Matthews found a stout ally in Phil Emery and the pair took the score to 234. It was then that part timer Ben Johnson chipped in with the valuable wickets of Matthews (80) who got a leading edge to wide mid-off and Emery (23) who was caught low down by Siddons at slip. With the second new-ball Harrity picked up Maxwell for 14, and late in the day Thompson became McIntyre`s first victim to leave NSW 9/280 at the close. Harrity took 3/44, with George and Johnson taking two wickets each. Peter McIntyre was disappointing having 1/90 from his twenty-seven overs. Close: SA 301, NSW 9/280 (91 overs, Freedman 5*, Stuart 3*) ====> Day 3, 18 Mar 95 NSW grabbed first innings points in a tense struggle in the first session of play at the Sydney Cricket Ground. Resuming at 9/280, David Freedman and Anthony Stuart added 25 runs in nine overs, to take NSW to a first innings win. The South Australian`s threw everything at the tailenders but couldn`t breakthrough. NSW de- clared immediately on 9/305 with a lead of 4 runs. South Australia closed the third day in a strong position to press for outright victory, being 4/349 at the close, with skipper Jamie Siddons being 149 not out. Overcoming any disa- pointment at missing out on first innings points, the visitors came out and batted aggressively scoring at four and over. Siddons added 93 for third wicket with Darren Lehmann (61) fal- ling to brilliant catch in the covers by Jason Arnberger. Later, at 4/184 Webber joined his skipper and these two added an unbeaten 165 for the fifth wicket, with Webber (78 not out) batting a well as he has all season. For the record, Siddons brought up his 27th first class century in 232 minutes, and hit 14 fours. It was his 24th Shield ton and in all Siddons bat- ted for 313 minutes. Close: SA 301 & 4/349 (Siddons 149*, Webber 78*) NSW 9/305 dec - an overall lead of 345. ====> Day 4, 19 Mar 95 After a tense final day South Australia won its way into the Shield final by defeating NSW outright by 122 runs. Declaring overnight with a lead of 345, SA struggled for a early breakthrough and it wasn`t until the score had reached 55, where Davison was trapped in front for the second time in match by George for 24. Dangerman Michael Bevan went quickly, caught at the wicket off McIntyre for just one. NSW were approaching lunch in a good position before Lehmann took a wicket in the over before lunch where he caught and bowled him for 17, to leave NSW 3/95 at the break. First innings top scorer Matthews again offered stout resistnace adding 21 with Arnberger. But both fell in with the score on 126, with Arnberger (63) being bowled and Matthews (15) caught by Brayshaw off McInytre. Emery (5) fell shortly after to leave NSW 6/139. However, with South Australia scenting victory, Maxwell and Young dug in. They took NSW to tea but after the break, Johnson had Young (25) caught behind, and Harrity chimed in to claim Thompson (12) and Maxwell (41) - a reluctant LBW victim. McIntyre finished the innings and the match by dismissing Freed- man (6) to bowled out NSW for 223. The leg-spinner McIntyre picked up three wickets, with Harrity and Gillespie taking two apiece. Thus South Australia had reached the Shield final, its first since 1988-89 when Western Australia won the Shield. Contributed by lawrie.colliver (lozza@adam.com.au)