Victoria 373 (Rogers 76, Crone 62, Handscomb 56) and 122 for 2 (Harris 56*, Handscomb 56*) beat Western Australia 167 (Murphy 4-37) and 325 (Curtis 119*, Cartwright 78, Elliott 4-47)

Rocchiccioli bowled Ashley Chandrasinghe and Campbell Kellaway with his first two deliveries to have the hosts 19 for 2. Two days earlier he had Peter Siddle caught by Cameron Bancroft with the last ball of the first innings.

The door was ajar for an unlikely Western Australia win after Rocchiccioli’s heroics but Handscomb was having none of that. The skipper negotiated the hat-trick delivery and went on the attack. Harris was a willing accomplice and made sure there was no miracle win for the three-time reigning Shield champions.

Curtis remained unbeaten on a brilliant and defiant 119 to add to the list of wicketkeepers in fine fettle with the bat in Australian domestic cricket.

Allrounder Sam Elliott took four wickets in another impressive display. It was the bowlers who set the win up for Victoria with paceman Fergus O’Neill taking six for the match and spinner Todd Murphy chiming in with four first-innings wickets to help dismiss Western Australia for 167.

The careers of Williamson and Southee have run side-by-side from junior and Under-19 level through domestic cricket into to all formats for New Zealand with the pair playing their 100th Tests together against Australia earlier this year, although Williamson made his debut two-and-a-half years after Southee.

“Playing so long together, you just go through so much,” Williamson told reporters in Hamilton ahead of his first game for Northern Districts since 2019 where Southee will also line up. “Both doing stints in leadership roles and you go through different turbulent times, then you have some good ones as well and they are all part of the experience. To do it as long as Tim has is incredible as a fast bowler, there’s not many in the history of the game who have been able to achieve what he has. Such a huge member [and] leader of our side and a close friend as well.”

While New Zealand’s historic 3-0 victory in India suggests there could be plenty of good times ahead for the current team, Southee’s retirements marks the latest departure from an era of players that brought considerable success following the likes of Ross Taylor, BJ Watling, Colin de Grandhomme and Neil Wagner while Trent Boult no longer features in Tests after stepping away from a central contract and has also retired from T20Is.

“It’s life, isn’t it. You do realise you are closer towards the end than the start which is a certainty,” Williamson said. “It’s [about] navigating those periods because you feel slightly different when you play your first game to when you play your 100th and there’s different levels of excitement, your life changes a little bit, whether that’s family, extra dogs, whatever it is you are into, so the picture does take a slightly different shape and your motivation does adjust.

“There’s sadness, but excitement as well for Tim because the end of your time in a sporting professional environment is scary but there’s so much more to come.”

Williamson, who will return from a groin injury against England after missing the whole series in India, also turned down an NZC contract this year but remains committed across formats. He termed the victory in India one of New Zealand’s “all-time cricketing memories” although added missing out on being part of it was challenging at times with his fitness assessed on a Test-by-Test basis before it was decided he wasn’t ready.

“It was a lot of internal temptation [to try and get there], for sure, then after a few discussions it was keep taking that time to get it right so that’s what I did,” he said. “Suffered a little bit of FOMO, which is a good thing, but just admired it really. To go over and play the way they did, so special, one of our all-time cricketing memories.”

Williamson’s groin injury was picked up running between the wickets in the second innings of the second Test in Galle and he admitted the body needed more looking after in the latter stages of his career.

“It’s not major, which is good,” he said. “Think post knee [injury] there’s always little curlys that bob their heads so actually making sure I keep putting that time in. For so long you feel invincible, and I’ve certainly had a few reminders that’s not the case recently and making sure that I’m staying on top of all those things and keeping the body in check.”

Queensland 291 (Renshaw 121) and 225 for 5 (McDermott 59*, Peirson 44*, Meredith 3-39) drew with Tasmania 461 (Weatherald 186, Doran 101)

Queensland held on for a draw on the final day of their Sheffield Shield match against a Tasmania side that dominated from the outset.

The match was called a draw with an hour to play with Queensland 225 for 5 in their second innings, a lead of 55. Queensland have not won any of their past six games in Brisbane, a run comprising four losses and two draws.

Tasmania posted 461 in the first innings but the weather conspired to cruel their hopes of a first win of the season after most of day two was lost to rain.

Queensland resumed at 274 for 7 and immediately lost day-three centurion Matthew Renshaw who added just one to his overnight tally.

Meredith was the destroyer in the hour after the interval and took three wickets to have Queensland teetering at 126 for 5, still 44 runs shy of making the visitors bat again, before McDermott and Pearson knuckled down to ensure there was no embarrassing loss.

Tasmania opener Jake Weatherald was named man of the match for his superb 186.

Queensland captain Mitchell Swepson conceded Tasmania had dominated the game.

“We play Shield cricket to win and unfortunately we haven”t been able to get into positions to win,” he told AAP. “Tassie were driving the game from the first day when we weren’t quite on with the ball. We were lucky to get away with a draw here.”

A day-night clash with top of the table Victoria starts on Sunday at the Gabba. Queensland must win to get their season moving in the right direction.

“Where we are on the table, we need a few wins and we have great belief in this group,” Swepson said. “The Gabba has been a fortress for us and is somewhere we think we can play an aggressive brand of cricket. The pink ball adds a different element and you’d like to think there would be a result at the Gabba where the wicket is pretty spicy for Shield games.”

Tasmania will play NSW away on Sunday as they also look for an elusive first victory of the summer.

Capsey, who was initially left out of the touring party amid an extended form slump with the bat, has left WBBL side Melbourne Renegades to join her England team-mates in South Africa today.

England said her recall was due to “a couple of minor injury concerns within the squad” but would not elaborate, adding only that all squad members were taking part in a light training session on Monday amid “a couple of niggles, nothing major”.

Capsey made a top score of 19 in three innings at last month’s T20 World Cup, where England failed to reach the knockouts. Since then, she has scored 72 runs in eight innings at the WBBL, where she is currently the third-highest wicket-taker with 13 at an average of 13.23 and economy rate of 7.21, including a best of 5 for 25 in a losing cause against Perth Scorchers.

Capsey and the injured Dani Gibson were the only members of the T20 World Cup squad not included in the original group bound for South Africa, with middle-order batter Paige Scholfield and fast bowler Lauren Filer called up after missing out on the World Cup. Scholfield made her England debut on the tour of Ireland in September.

South Africa host England in three T20Is from November 24 in East London, followed by three ODIs and ending with a Test in Bloemfontein.