A middle-order collapse has proved costly for Victoria, who slipped to a nine-run defeat against South Australia in their final-round one-day cup match at Junction Oval.
Victoria seemed on track at the midway point of their innings on Sunday in pursuit of South Australia's challenging 7-265, but the home side lost 4-9 and were dismissed for 257 off the final ball of their innings.
Opener Cameron White (81) and Peter Handscomb (64) put on a comfortable 125-run stand for the third wicket, leaving the Vics cruising at 3-178 in the 34th over.
But the collapse began with the dismissal of Test discard Handscomb, who had posted his third consecutive half-century in the competition.
Fast-medium bowler Joe Mennie was a pivotal figure with 3-38, while debutant Luke Robins (1-48) took the crucial wicket of Glenn Maxwell (33 off 37 balls) just as the limited-overs specialist looked as if he would save the day for the Vics.
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While all six teams will feature in the finals, Victoria needed to win to have any chance of a top-two finish and claim passage directly into the elimination final.
Veteran batsman Callum Ferguson scored a composed century to rescue South Australia from a parlous 2-30 early in their innings.
After cautiously guiding his side to safety, Ferguson accelerated before being dismissed for 133 off 125 balls for an SA record eighth one-day century.
Jake Lehmann (44) and Tom Cooper (37) were the other main contributors for South Australia.
Victoria were well served by legspinner Fawad Ahmed (2-42) in his first outing of the season, while Chris Tremain also made a timely return following recent injury to fellow paceman Will Sutherland.
