A hamstrung Sam Fanning has defied injury to help Western Australia pull off a remarkable comeback victory over Queensland by two wickets in their Sheffield Shield season opener at the WACA Ground.

Having suffered what appeared to be a serious hamstring issue while fielding on the third day, Fanning limped to the crease on the morning of the fourth following the dismissals of Joel Paris (19), Jhye Richardson (zero) and Kieran Elliott (20) with WA still requiring another 40 runs for victory.

The regular opener, who made his way around the WACA yesterday with the aid of crutches and dropped down to No.10 in the batting order, was given complete trust from his captain Aaron Hardie.

And he justified the faith in defying plenty of pain to compile a gutsy 14 not out from 82 deliveries, remaining with Hardie as the player of the match finished 80 not out to lead his side to a famous win.

Hardie said Fanning, who is awaiting the results of scans to determine the severity of his injury, deserved a tremendous amount of credit for his contribution.

“I had a lot of faith in him to be able to hold up an end and contribute with the bat. It was great to have him out there,” Hardie said.

“He was planning to have a hit to see what sort of shots he could play with his hamstring, but he didn’t have the chance to do that.

“I didn’t know he had to run sideways, so that was a bit of fun, he first single he took. He thought that he’d be able to come back for twos early on, but then we figured he wouldn’t be able to do that.

“It’s a shame that he’s not going to be able to play the next few games.”

WA overturned a first-innings deficit of 132 by routing Queensland for 68 on Saturday and completing the chase ensured the State’s new shield captain-and-coach combination of Hardie and Beau Casson started their stints in victorious fashion.

Hardie said his side would draw an invaluable jolt of confidence from the result.

“After the first two one-dayers and the first two days of this game, there was probably a few people . . . keen to get some positivity and get the ball rolling in that sense,” he said.

“It was great from Joel (Paris) and Richo (Jhye Richardson) — they pretty much won us the game on day three.

“It was a crazy game. It’s quite funny to do a whole pre-season and then, all best-laid plans went out the window there.”

Queensland were given the perfect start to the day by Xaxier Bartlett (4-53), who dismissed Paris with the fourth delivery of the day by inducing the veteran to edge through to Jimmy Peirson behind the stumps.

Richardson came to the crease but was on his way back for a first-ball duck only moments later, with a ball which reared at him running off the face of his bat to Hugh Weibgen at second slip.

Elliott opted to take an aggressive approach after seeing a pair of his fellow tail-enders depart, thrashing three quick boundaries.

But his brisk 20 from 27 balls ended when he played one big shot too many, with a booming cover drive only creating a chance third slip Angus Lovell was all too happy to pouch.

Fanning made his way to the crease ahead of No.11 Albert Esterhuysen and copped some immediate body blows, including one which deflected into his helmet and prompted the umpires for him to have him medically checked.

After appearing to aggravate his hamstring problem, he restored to crab-walking from end to end when able to get through for singles, but showed his quality with an early back-foot punch through the off-side which raced to the boundary.

As WA drew closer to their target, the game entered a pattern — Hardie would often take a single from the first delivery of an over, before Fanning survived the next five.

The tension only grew as the hosts inched their way to within one stroke of victory, and after a run of 18 dot balls in a row, Fanning tucked Bartlett off his pads and trotted through for two to seal the result and spark huge celebrations.