Ballarat's Matt Short helped Victoria keep its Marsh One-Day Cup hopes alive, anchoring Victoria's first innings score in its clash with New South Wales on Sunday.
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Short made 88 runs off 85 deliveries to help the Vics achieve a six-run win over NSW at the MCG.
The effort, along with Jake Fraser-McGurk's 54 off 49, formed the backbone of Victoria's competitive first innings total of 265.
NSW was unable to account for the target, finishing on 259 after 49.5 overs.
Short and Fraser-McGurk's 95-run stand helped push the the Vics to 4-245. But when both fell in quick succession, the Vics collapsed, losing 6-20 to close out the innings.
The Blues seemed comfortably on track to reach the total at 1-143, with NSW batsmen Daniel Hughes and Moises Henriques making light work of Victoria's bowlers.
But a regular loss of wickets left NSW at 6-198, and needing a run a ball to win.
Short followed up his knock of 88 by claiming Hughes, 83 off 85 balls, with a match-turning LBW.
His eventual bowling figures of 2-21 capped off a sensational all-around performance.
With NSW needing 18 off the final two overs, the Vics claimed Henriques two runs shy of a century to seal victory.
Test fast bowler Peter Siddle collected the best figures for Victoria with 3-40.
The score marked a career-best for Short who scored at a rate of just over a run a ball. He was dismissed off a delivery from Henriques.
The victory marked the third of the one-day cup season for Victoria which have won three from six matches.
But Sunday's win is unlikely to be enough for the Vics, who will need Tasmania to beat Queensland by an enormous margin on Monday to have any chance to qualify for the Marsh Cup final.
They will also need a massive victory against South Australia at the MCG on Tuesday.