At 11.30am on Monday morning at the Junction Oval, South Australia captain Nathan McSweeney and coach Ryan Harris could not wipe the smiles off their faces as they stood with their Sheffield Shield winners' medals dangling from their necks.
By contrast, their Victoria counterparts, Will Sutherland and Chris Rogers, looked shell-shocked. Almost exactly 24 hours earlier, the expressions were the opposite. South Australia were 122 for 7, leading by just 59 after Scott Boland had opened up the tail in successive balls.
How South Australia stole the title from that position, to win back-to-back titles, will become the stuff of legend.
"[I was] very nervous, thinking maybe the game has just slipped through our hands," McSweeney said on Monday just moments after holding the Shield aloft for the second time in two years. "But Kez [Alex Carey] and Macca [Nathan McAndrew], to be able to spend so much time in the middle and chip away at a total [with a 105-run stand]. We were saying 130-140 is enough and then to get 195 ahead, just gave us so much momentum and something to really bowl at. And our quicks have been great all year, probably the last three or four years. So to give them the ball and go to work was fantastic to see."
Harris admitted he was more nervous at 5.50pm on day four. After the stunning partnership from Carey and McAndrew, the joy of three early wickets for just 35 runs gave way to dread as Victoria's two most experienced players, Peter Handscomb and Marcus Harris, compiled a composed 67-run stand to take the hosts to 102 for 3 in pursuit of 196.
But Henry Thornton and Liam Scott made crucial late strikes to leave Victoria 102 for 5 at stumps with two nightwatchers at the crease, with 94 still needed to win.
"That was probably the one for me," Harris said. "I reckon ten minutes before that I was thinking... if they get through tonight, if we don't get at least one of them it would have been tougher this morning, no doubt. But I think to get two blokes who have played Test cricket, can bat a long time on a nice wicket with an old ball, that was sort of the turning point. I think, to be able to get them five-down nine minutes before stumps was pretty good. I think that was for the turning point on top of probably the partnership obviously got us into a position where we had a target to bowl at."
Rogers was left to rue how the title had slipped through Victoria's fingers in a third final in five seasons.
"We got ourselves so far in front of the game. We were odds-on to win that game, and then they found a way to fight back," he said. "We knew it was going to be an arm wrestle, and we lost that big moment on the beginning of day four. And from there we had a bit of a tricky chase, and we just didn't have enough people who stood up."
Victoria lost 7 for 37, including 5 for 27 on the final day, to lose the title. The decision to send in two nightwatchers was not one Rogers would change in hindsight, and Harris admitted South Australia were prepared to do the same thing on the night on day three.
"I don't think that that was the difference," Rogers said. "I think we set it up that we wanted to bat today and chase it today, and we just didn't go about it the right way and they played well. On another day, we get 20 runs from those two nightwatchers, who both can bat, and then maybe we get a bit more from the other guys as well. But it just wasn't to be and credit to South Australia"
Sutherland and Rogers will spend the winter pondering whether their plans to Carey and McAndrew were right. They repeatedly gave Carey the single to attack McAndrew but he fought superbly to make 60 off 144. He played and missed 16 times and edged Boland between first and second slip on 43, only for Sutherland and Handscomb to leave it for the other.
"That gets taken, it's a completely different game," Sutherland said. "I still think we probably could have got it done this morning. I think it was still maybe just in our favour, or in the balance. A bit of a young group that can maybe handle those chases under high pressure slightly better."
Both Rogers and Sutherland agreed that the loss hurt far more than the previous two against Western Australia in 2022 and 2023, given Victoria had dominated the entire year in winning seven games out of ten to host the final.
"This one hurts the most," Rogers said. "I think we went into those games massive underdogs, and we kind of spent our tickets trying to get to the final. This time we planned well. We kind of tailored it well to get our players in the best form. But we just didn't get the job done in the game."
For Harris, the come-from-behind win was more rewarding than the drought-breaking title last year, as they became the first away team to win a Shield final in a decade.
"Coaching for me last year was easy," Harris said. "We went through last year virtually with not many injuries. This year was bloody hard. And that's what probably makes this a little bit more special."