VAC vs NSW Match Prediction & AnalysisNew South Wales and Victoria are both off to a winning start in the Australia Domestic One-Day Cup 2026-27.
Victoria will take on the defending champions at their home venue in Melbourne, where last season they beat NSW by 5 runs in a rain-affected match.
In the last game, NSW conceded 156 runs before they broke QLD’s opening stand.
With plenty of players in good touch in the batting lineup, NSW will be confident coming into this match.
VAC vs NSW Pitch ReportConsidering the international matches played here, the wicket looks very much bowling-friendly.
VAC vs NSW Match Prediction & Analysis
New South Wales and Victoria are both off to a winning start in the Australia Domestic One-Day Cup 2026-27. Victoria will take on the defending champions at their home venue in Melbourne, where last season they beat NSW by 5 runs in a rain-affected match.
Though Victoria emerged victorious in their recent game, their batting is off to a shaky start. 4 of their top 5 batters were out for single-digit scores while chasing a 337-run target against Queensland.
Skipper Will Sutherland and wicket-keeper batter Liam Blackford led the comeback with a hundred each. For New South Wales, there were 4 batters with 50+ scores, including both openers Kurtis Patterson and Riley Kingsell in their successful run chase of 359 runs in Brisbane.
In the one-day internationals, this venue in Melbourne has been a pretty low-scoring one with an average first-innings score of under 200 runs. However, last year, Western Australia beat Victoria by 7 wickets, chasing down 289 runs on this ground.
RECENT PERFORMANCE
VAC W L L L W QSL 335/7 in 50.0 6.7 MODC 2026-27 Victoria beat Queensland by 3 wickets 19 Sep 2026 VAC 339/7 in 49.5 6.8 VAC 261/10 in 91.0 2.87 SSD South Australia beat Victoria by 56 runs 26 Mar 2026 SAC 139/10 in 49.5 2.79 WAC 233/2 in 39.5 5.85 MOC Western Australia Won by 8 wickets 21 Feb 2026 VAC 230/9 in 50.0 4.6 VAC 144/10 in 57.2 2.51 SSD Queensland beat Victoria by 36 runs 05 Feb 2026 QSL 205/10 in 85.1 2.41 VAC 216/3 in 44.3 4.85 MOC Victoria Won by 7 wickets 03 Feb 2026 QSL 215/10 in 49.0 4.39
HEAD TO HEAD
TEAMS PREVIEW
Victoria Preview
Will Sutherland will be concerned about his team’s recent batting performance despite them ending up on the winning side. Victoria were 4 down for 14 runs, and then the 70-run partnership between Sutherland and Blake Macdonald ended in the 17th over.
Sutherland and Liam Blackford then pulled the side out of the rubble with a 152-run partnership for the 6th wicket. Victoria still needed another 100 runs to win in 54 balls and had 4 wickets in hand.
Sam Elliott played a supporting role while Blackford stayed at the crease to see his team home. As they come to Melbourne, Victoria will need their top-order batters to come good in this match.
Harry Dixon and Matthew Short open the innings for the side, and the latter brings plenty of experience. Thomas Rogers at number 3 is also a very promising player and has delivered big knocks in the past. Blake Macdonald, who was part of a crucial partnership with the skipper in the last game, holds a key position in the lineup at number 4.
The top 3 batters must step up and deliver impactful knocks to get the home team off to a good start. In the bowling attack, Will Sutherland and Sam Elliott are the key wicket-takers to watch out for. The 21-year-old Austin Anlezark also looked very promising in the last outing and had picked up 2 for 27 against NSW last year.
Interesting Stats
Austin Anlezark picked up a wicket in the first over of his spell against Queensland in the last match
Liam Blackford’s 149 off 113 balls was a game-changing performance
Left-arm orthodox Doug Warren delivered the best performance for Victoria, picking up 2 for 54 in 10 overs
Victoria Predicted Playing XI:
Matthew Short, Harry Dixon, Thomas Fraser Rogers, Blake Macdonald, Dylan Brasher, Will Sutherland (c), Liam Blackford (wk), Austin Anlezark, Doug Warren, Harry Hoekstra, Sam Elliott
Victoria Key Players From Previous Game Of Marsh One Day Cup, 2026-27 Batsmen R B 4s 6s SRs Liam Blackford 149 113 16 6 131.86 Will Sutherland 100 106 8 4 94.34 Sam Elliott 32 23 4 1 139.13 Bowlers O M R W Econ Sam Elliott 8.0 1 77 2 9.62 Doug Warren 10.0 0 54 2 5.4 Austin Anlezark 8.0 1 49 1 6.12
New South Wales Preview
The defending champions are off to a strong start in the 2026-27 season with a 4-wicket win over Queensland at the Allan Border Field in Brisbane. NSW’s two losses last year came against Victoria and Queensland, respectively.
Can they beat both these opponents in their first couple of outings this year? They have already beaten QLD and will now be travelling to Melbourne to settle scores with Victoria. Kurtis Patterson and Riley Kingsell must boost the team morale after a strong opening partnership in the last game.
However, the skipper will be concerned about his team’s bowling performance and will expect the opening bowlers to find early breakthroughs. In the last game, NSW conceded 156 runs before they broke QLD’s opening stand.
Ben Dwarshuis, Sean Abbott, and Tanveer Sangha are the key wicket-takers to watch out for in this squad. Skipper Lachlan Shaw sent Dwarshuis to bat ahead of him at number 4, expecting a fiery knock to push the momentum higher.
William Salzmann was pretty impressive lower down the order with a 70-run knock as he and Shaw scored 83 runs for the 4th wicket. Later, Salzmann was part of an unbeaten 108-run partnership with Jake Scott to see NSW to a 4-wicket win in their first match of the season.
The number 3 batter Nic Maddinson will be expected to find his form and strike a crucial partnership with one of the openers. With plenty of players in good touch in the batting lineup, NSW will be confident coming into this match.
Interesting Stats
Kurtis Patterson and Riley Kingsley scored 63 and 79 respectively while opening the innings for NSW
Charles Stobo picked up a 3-fer against Victoria at this venue last year
NSW picked up 6 wickets for 59 runs in the last 10 overs of their opening match this season
New South Wales Predicted Playing XI:
Riley Kingsell, Nic Maddinson, Kurtis Patterson, Lachlan Shaw (c) (wk), William Salzmann, Oliver Davies, Jake Scott, Ben Dwarshuis, Charles Stobo, Sean Abbott, Tanveer Sangha
New South Wales Key Players From Previous Game Of Marsh One Day Cup, 2026-27 Batsmen R B 4s 6s SRs Riley Kingsell 79 82 8 3 96.34 William Salzmann 70 65 4 3 107.69 Kurtis Patterson 63 32 4 7 196.88 Bowlers O M R W Econ Ben Dwarshuis 10.0 0 57 3 5.7 Sean Abbott 9.5 0 77 3 7.83 Charlie Stobo 10.0 0 71 2 7.1
PITCH AND WEATHER CONDITIONS
HR Temp Rain W. speed W. direction Clouds 00h 28 0 mm. 6.55 k/h From: NE 1% 03h 29 0 mm. 6.64 k/h From: ENE 1% 06h 31 0 mm. 6.67 k/h From: E 0% 09h 28 0 mm. 5.03 k/h From: E 0% 12h 25 0 mm. 4.88 k/h From: ENE 0% 15h 23 0 mm. 4.87 k/h From: ENE 0% 18h 21 0 mm. 4.05 k/h From: NE 0% 21h 20 0 mm. 3.61 k/h From: NNE 0%
Weather Conditions
It will be mostly cloudy in Melbourne with a high of 19 degrees Celsius around the match time. There is a chance of light rain in the evening, a little after the game has kicked off. The game can be affected, and we can expect some overs to be reduced under revised conditions. However, since only light rain is forecast, we don’t expect the match to be abandoned.
VAC vs NSW Pitch Report
Considering the international matches played here, the wicket looks very much bowling-friendly. Last season, in the rain-affected match between NSW and the hosts, the bowlers had the upper hand, while in the second outing on this ground, the visitors chased down 289 runs comfortably. The average first-innings score in the 10 one-day internationals played here is 173 runs. However, for a match-winning total in this game, we reckon the team batting first needs to aim for something over 270 runs.
Toss: To Bowl
Though the team batting first and second won one game each last season at this venue in Melbourne, in the internationals, the chasing team has won 60% of the matches played at the Junction Oval. Both teams have successfully chased down highly competitive totals in their respective first match of the season. They will back themselves to chase another total in this match.
