An emotional Jason Sangha said South Australia saved his career after delivering a match-winning unbeaten century to help the state break a 29-year Sheffield Shield drought.
Sangha, 25, joined South Australia during the off-season last year having been discarded by New South Wales after six seasons and 37 Shield matches, including one as captain in 2022.
The former Australia Under-19 captain had been promoted to Shield cricket very early but struggled for consistency, averaging just 26.63 with three centuries in 64 innings for New South Wales before being dropped in November 2023.
But South Australia gave him a lifeline and he has repaid them in stunning fashion. He will go down as a South Australian hero after scoring an unbeaten 126 to help his side chase 270, the highest ever fourth innings run chase in a Shield final. When he hit the winning runs he was mobbed by thousands of fans that ran onto the ground and they chanted his name at the trophy presentation when he received his winners medal.
"I thought my career was over," Sangha said. "South Australia gave me a second chance. I owe them everything, really. They have saved my career."
Sangha finished the season with 704 runs at 78.22 from just six games including three centuries, one in his first game of the season where South Australia beat Tasmania in the equal closest game in Shield history, and one in the last to deliver the title.
He performed his heroics in the final alongside Australia Test wicketkeeper Alex Carey who made a sensational 105 in a partnership of 202 after the pair came together at 28 for 3.
Carey and Jake Lehmann were the only two players in South Australia's XI that had played in the state's last two Shield finals in 2016 and 2017 when they lost twice to Victoria at home and in Alice Springs. He was proud to have finally delivered a title to South Australia.
"It has been too long - and the history is what it is," Carey said. "I didn't think time was running out but I was just super keen to do everything I can to help us this year."
The scenes in the aftermath of South Australia's four-wicket win were extraordinary. A crowd in excess of 4000 had turned up at Karen Rolton Oval to watch the fourth day chase. There would not have been a crowd of that size at any Shield game in Australia in recent memory.
When Sangha clipped the winning runs through midwicket, the vast majority of the crowd swarmed the field as Sangha and his batting partner Ben Manenti hugged in the middle. The pair got separated as they were each mobbed by fans as they tried to make their way off the ground to celebrate with their team-mates. The scenes were very similar to 1996 when South Australia last won the Shield in Adelaide, as fans swarmed Peter McIntyre and Shane George as they ran from the ground after the pair had held on for a draw.
Every Shield final presentation in recent times has taken place on the ground with very few people around. With thousands on the ground in front of the only grandstand at Karen Rolton Oval, which doubles as the pavilion, Cricket Australia and South Australian Cricket Association officials created an impromptu stage in the seats at the front of the first tier.
South Australia premier Peter Malinauskas stood in the throng of fans on the ground with his daughter on his shoulders as the crowd looked up to see the Shield presented to skipper Nathan McSweeney.
One of the loudest cheers came for Brendan Doggett when he was announced as player of the match. The 31-year-old had already won two Shield titles with Queensland but delivered his finest performance as a Shield cricketer for South Australia taking 11 for 140 for the match, the best ever figures in a final.
"I was probably a little bit naive with my first two," Doggett said. "Just being young and being in a really strong side, I probably didn't realise how hard they were to win until arriving here."
McSweeney, another former Queenslander, said the drought had weighed heavily on them.
"When it has been a long time and you feel a little bit of external pressure as well, it makes it a little bit nicer," McSweeney said.
Coach Ryan Harris, who has delivered both the Shield and the One-Day Cup to South Australia in his first season as coach, said he was hoping the victory was just the beginning.
"We're going to try and win a few now," Harris said. "We will definitely enjoy this one but I have already started thinking about next year."
AAP contributed to this story