The comeback by WA’s injury-prone fast Jhye Richardson, who finished with 5 for 63, including two wickets in three balls in the sixth over, was overshadowed by Philippe’s performance.
Josh Philippe, who recently returned to the New South Wales squad, has been outstanding. He scored a brilliant century against his old team to help the Blues defeat Western Australia by eight runs in the One-Day Cup.
To try to spark his Sheffield Shield career again, Philippe moved to NSW during the off-season from Western Australia. Philippe, however, has left a lasting early impression with the white ball. On Sunday at Cricket Central in Sydney, the 27-year-old cracked a career-high 139 off 119 deliveries to help NSW to 287 for 9.
In response, WA, the three-time defending winners, needed nine runs off the last eight balls after reaching 279 for 9.
However, Will Salzmann dashed WA’s hopes when he dismissed AJ Tye after making a difficult catch at deep point while sprinting backward and staring into the sun.
In the 38th over, Richardson got rid of Philippe after Bancroft made a spectacular one-handed diving catch at mid-on.
Despite having returned costly numbers of 2 for 72, Salzmann emerged victorious with the game-winning catch.
With a score of 71, Cameron Bancroft led the Western Australians in scoring, followed by Ashton Agar (51), Ashton Turner (41) and Hilton Cartwright (41).
In his devastating knock, Philippe blasted 17 fours and 3 sixes, with the star opener being especially vicious down the ground and over the top.
The lone spinner for Western Australia, Agar, took a lot of abuse from Philippe en route to figures of 1 for 58 from eight overs.
However, the damage had already been done, as despite the lack of support around him, Philippe’s knock helped NSW score a strong total.
Tanveer Singh, the last man standing, finished with a comfortable 26 not out off 14 balls at the conclusion, while Matthew Gilkes, batting at No. 7, struck 41 off 47 to be the next greatest scorer.
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