South Australia 295 for 9 (Hunt 81, Manenti 53, Murphy 3-60, Boland 3-66) vs Victoria
After being sent in on a decent batting surface, South Australia finished the opening day on 295 for 9. Victoria offspinner Todd Murphy impressed with 3 for 60 from 23 overs, the most he has bowled on the opening day of a Shield fixture this season, while Scott Boland was superb again, taking 3 for 66.
Murphy had Hunt’s measure twice. He had him dropped by Dylan Brasher at short leg on 46 before later pinning him lbw. Hunt also survived a close lbw shout against Mitch Perry. But he fought hard against some outstanding new-ball bowling from Boland, which Mackenzie Harvey was unable to survive, and profited from some loose bowling at the other end striking 12 boundaries in his 170-ball 81.
With Victoria opting to rest Fergus O’Neill ahead of the Shield final, it appears as though Perry and Sam Elliott are fighting for a spot in their XI for the decider. Elliott did himself no favours as he struggled with his lengths despite picking up two wickets. Hunt pulled him repeatedly to the midwicket boundary. But one of those short balls did remove Nathan McSweeney, who top-edged to fine leg where Boland took an outstanding sliding catch near the rope. It was a frustrating end for McSweeney, who had worked hard for his 23.
Murphy replaced Elliott at the northern end and caused all sorts of problems for South Australia’s middle-order batters either side of lunch. He got two to bite from the surface to catch the inside edge of both Hunt and Jason Sangha, but only the latter was held by Brasher at short leg.
Australia’s Test No. 6 Alex Carey never looked comfortable against Murphy during his 70-ball stay. He struck five boundaries and made 38 in a 74-run stand with Hunt. He chipped Murphy against the spin just out of mid-on’s reach for one of his boundaries, but when he tried again, he miscued against the turn and skied it to Elliott running back from mid-on.
Murphy then trapped Hunt lbw shortly after playing back to a ball that skidded through. That left South Australia 167 for 5 and in danger of posting an under-par first-innings total given the surface had not played too many tricks. They slumped further to 191 for 6 when Boland blasted through Jake Lehmann’s defence from around the wicket to clatter middle and off.
But Manenti and Liam Scott steadied the innings with a crucial 77-run stand. They prospered against the softer old ball. Murphy was unable to cause as much trouble with it and Manenti and Scott accumulated with control before the second new ball was taken. Scott succumbed on 38, edging an attempted cut from a Perry delivery that was there to be hit. Manenti passed 50 to warm applause from his team-mates, his first half-century since his stunning innings for Italy against England at the T20 World Cup, but Boland scratched his outside edge with a beauty that angled in and nipped away from a perfect length.
South Australia need a victory to guarantee a spot in the final against Victoria at the same venue on March 26. But the first innings batting bonus points will help as Queensland need to win against Tasmania and accrue enough bonus points to pass South Australia in the event of Victoria winning.