The die was cast early for Fawad Ahmed and Victoria on the way to South Australia easily winning their Sheffield Shield cricket match.

The Bushrangers hoped Ahmed’s leg spin might help them pull off an unlikely win on day four at the MCG, but there simply were not enough runs to defend.

Ahmed went wicketless on Monday, also further dampening his Ashes selection hopes, as SA reached 3-183 after tea to win by seven wickets.

Michael Klinger top scored with 73no and Tom Cooper made 71.

The stage was set last Friday when Victoria won the toss and were blasted out for 118.

The pitch also did not break up on the last day, meaning Victoria relied more on pace than spin as they tried in vain to stop SA.

“The way we batted in the first innings on a flat wicket was always going to put them behind the eight ball,” Bushrangers’ captain Matthew Wade said of Ahmed and fellow spinner Jon Holland.

“If we could have had 300-400 on the board, then they could have played a much bigger part.”

Victoria rallied to make 404 in the second innings and set SA 180 for the win.

The Redbacks had an early wobble at 2-27, but Klinger and Cooper were unflustered in their 122-run stand for the third wicket.

Holland also failed to take a wicket in the second innings.

“We were in control for most of the game,” said SA bowling coach Rob Cassell.

“We knew it was a good wicket … we knew we could chase down a decent total on day four.

“They (Klinger and Cooper) showed their class today and got us through.”

Another SA star was left-armer Gary Putland, who took three wickets in both innings after returning from a hamstring injury.

SA solidified second spot behind NSW, while it was Victoria’s second-straight outright loss.

It is also the first time since 1909 that SA have scored three-straight wins over Victoria in Shield matches – a fact Redbacks coach and former Victorian wicketkeeper Darren Berry was keen to publicise.

Victoria have only scored three wins from their last 13 home Shield matches and will try to turn around their form in Brisbane.

“We have to win the next game – go into Christmas with a win and see what happens after the Big Bash,” Wade said.

“It’s as simple as that for us.

“The disappointing thing is we’re all batting really well, we’re just having our worst days at the same time.”