Jack Clayton stood firm but the rest of the Queensland batting fell away at the MCG

AAP and ESPNcricinfo staff12-Feb-2023Will Sutherland’s appointment as Victoria captain may have raised eyebrows in some circles but the 23-year-old allrounder has sailed through his first test as skipper with flying colours.Victoria romped to a massive 164-run win over Queensland at the MCG on Sunday to kick-start a flagging Sheffield Shield campaign and displace their opponents in second spot on the standings.Requiring 350 to win, Queensland rarely threatened and after reaching 2 for 94 crumbled to be all out for 185 just prior to tea on day four.Veteran spinner Jon Holland impressed with 3 for 24 from 17 overs, while Fergus O’Neill picked up 2 for 28 among six different wicket-takers for the hosts. Holland’s third wicket was that of fellow left-arm spinner Matt Kuhnemann who had just been confirmed as being added to Australia’s Test squad. He had earlier removed Queensland captain Jimmy Peirson when he shouldered arms and had his off stump hit.Sutherland was appointed ahead of the more experienced Marcus Harris, with the opener contributing a match-winning 100 on day one. He returned match figures of 5 for 91 and chipped in with a handy 26 just as Queensland sought to fight back late on day one.”To get a win in my first game as captain, I couldn’t have asked for anything more,” Sutherland said. “I have certainly loved the captaincy side of things, loved being involved in things all the time, trying to lead the boys and set the example, and they came along with me beautifully.”Having resumed at 2 for 65, Queensland retained their hopes until opener Bryce Street’s dismissal for 21 – carving an out-of-character drive to backward point off Matt Short – saw the visitors lose 4 for 30 before the lunch break.Middle-order batter Jack Clayton was the only other Queenslander to dig in but he was adjudged lbw to Holland for 66 to signal the beginning of the end.The one-sided winning margin was all the more noteworthy given Victoria’s many absentees.Regular skipper Peter Handscomb, as well as Scott Boland and Todd Murphy, are in India on Test duties, while Victoria were also without a host of first-choice batters including Nic Maddinson, Glenn Maxwell and Will Pucovski.”So many young boys are chipping in for us and making contributions,” said Sutherland. “This is going to be the team that will be carrying us forward for the next two or three years. Hopefully we can now snowball a bit, build some momentum and win a couple more.”It was a modest display with ball, and especially bat, from a Queensland side who could have put edged closer to a Shield final berth with a win.”There are a couple of things we need to work on coming out of Big Bash to get our season back on track,” Kuhnemann said.