Bullish Boland unable to clinch Vics' outright points

A lion-hearted last-day bowling effort from Scott Boland narrowly failed to deliver Victoria an outright win over South Australia whose batters hung on grimly for their second draw in as many Marsh Sheffield Shield outings.

Boland was called back to the crease time and again as Victoria battled to find ways through the Redbacks' obdurate batting, and sent down 22 overs for the day to return innings figures of 6-61.

But it wasn't enough to secure his team full points, as SA's penultimate pair Daniel Worrall (17no) and Wes Agar (7no) survived a fraught final half-hour to edge the Redbacks 20 runs in front by the time the game was adjourned.

A match that began in near-arctic chill last Friday and ended in a balmy burst of early summer today thereby ended in a stalemate due to another stoic last-day knock from SA skipper Travis Head (151 from 296 balls) who won strong support from opener Henry Hunt (80 from 278 balls).

Having dominated the contest from the moment SA opted to bat first under heavy skies, Victoria's sole mis-step was the overstep from young quick Zak Evans in the final hour that cost them the wicket of the Redbacks' final batting hope Liam Scott (61 from 162 balls).

Scott had shown temperament that belied his 19 years in surviving more than 40 overs at the crease, but flashed at a short, wide ball from Evans that took the top edge and was brilliantly caught by keeper Seb Gotch flinging himself to his right as the no-ball call echoed across Glenelg Oval.

Victoria's frustration was compounded when Scott punched Evans' auxiliary delivery to the point boundary to ensure his team drew level with their opponents, thereby ensuring Victoria would have to bat again to secure a win from their first game of the summer.

In response, Victoria captain Peter Handscomb immediately brought Boland back into the attack for another crack and his main man delivered by spearing an in-dipping yorker beneath Scott's hurried defensive jam to resurrect hopes of an outright win.

With the departure of his long-time fast bowling partners Chris Tremain (New South Wales) and Peter Siddle (Tasmania) during the off-season, Boland has inherited the job as both spearhead and workhorse of an otherwise greenhorn pace attack.

And if the 2018-19 Sheffield Shield Player of the Year's performance in Victoria's first outing of the current season provides an indication, he is relishing the hybrid role.

The 31-year-old had given his team a dream start to SA's second innings yesterday when he claimed two wickets in his second over, and bowled with unstinting energy and discipline through a warm (32C) day and on a flat pitch that had offered fellow seamers little more than anguish.

He then stepped up to grab two more crucial wickets late in today's first session, then speared through the defence of SA's last specialist batter Harry Nielsen in his first over after tea as Victoria surged towards an innings win.

While not in the league of Marcus Harris and Will Pucovski's record-breaking opening stand of 486 over the preceding two days, the partnership between Head and Hunt ultimately did much to secure SA's second gallant save in as many Shield matches.

The first of those came when Head batted throughout the final day against Tasmania last month to score an unbeaten 171 and stave off defeat.

The pair's 226-run union was the second-highest for the third wicket in all matches against Victoria after Clem Hill and Algy Gehrs' 253 in 1909-10.

But after Boland removed Hunt and Callum Ferguson in quick succession, it was spinner Jon Holland who claimed the key wicket when Head tucked a turning delivery from the face of his bat into the unerring hands of Handscomb at short leg.

From there – 5-264 and still 100 runs in deficit with more than 54 overs remaining in the day – SA were locked in a battle for survival although teenage all-rounder Scott couldn't resist launching a flurry of sixes off Holland.

The last of those carried the teenage talent to the first Shield half-century of what looms as a promising career.

SA had entered the final day with eight wickets in hand and needing to find a further 192 runs to send Victoria back to the batting crease for a second time.

And that assignment largely on the shoulders of Head (104no overnight) and Hunt (55no) given the pair have each faced more deliveries this Shield season than any other player.

Victoria began their assault for first points of the summer with a clear plan against left-handed Head.

Rookie paceman Evans targeted the Test vice-captain with a series of short balls that had his quarry ducking and dodging, although the sternest danger was posed by deliveries that did not bounce as high as expected on the day four surface.

When left-arm spinner Jon Holland entered the attack after 45 minutes of play, it seemed he would pose the principal threat after the first two deliveries he sent down spun prodigiously and bounced noticeably from outside Head's off-stump.

But the true test for the well-set SA duo was always going to be the arrival of the second new-ball an hour into the day, and it duly brought the double strike Victoria's fielders repeatedly referenced in their on-field exhortations.

It was Boland, the most threatening of Victoria's bowlers on the benign pitch, who secured the breakthrough in his fifth over with the new ball.

Hunt had been steadfast in defence throughout both innings (he was the only SA batter to reach 50 in their first dig) and had waited patiently for bowlers to err in length before unfurling his trademark cover drive and back-foot punch through mid-wicket.

However, Boland's relentless attack around the right-hander's off stump finally yielded a mistake as Hunt hung his bat at a delivery angled in but which held its line, and his instinctive move to withdraw it from harm's way could not be completed before a catch was edged.

The arrival of the Redbacks most experienced batter, Ferguson, brought an increase in chatter from the Victorians keen to remind the 35-year-old of his first innings duck when he nicked-off the sixth ball he faced.

This time Ferguson faced only five before he too was worked over by Boland who by that stage had all four SA wickets to fall and was threatening to scythe through the Redbacks' lower order.

The SA selectors will likely consider a couple of changes to the top-order for next week's match against Queensland at Glenelg with Ferguson (0 and 0), opener Conor McInerney (12 and 2) and recently installed No.3 Brad Davis (0 and 4) failing in both outings against Victoria.

While the Redbacks can call upon auxiliary batters Tom Cooper and Will Bosisto from within their current squad of 15, they are also able to call upon players from outside the 'bubble' provided any new additions serve three days of isolation before joining the playing group.

That might mean contracted allrounder Daniel Drew (who belted 107 from 98 balls for West Torrens in last weekend's round of the Premier Cricket One-Day Cup) or even uncontracted former New South Wales batter Ryan Gibson who plundered a double-hundred (off 136 balls) for the same club a week earlier.

After their run-glut at Glenelg, Victoria face no such batting concerns for their next match against Western Australia starting Sunday at Karen Rolton Oval in Adelaide.

South Australia XI: Henry Hunt, Conor McInerney, Brad Davis, Travis Head (c), Callum Ferguson, Harry Nielsen (wk), Liam Scott, Chadd Sayers, Daniel Worrall, Wes Agar, Lloyd Pope

Victoria XI: Marcus Harris, William Pucovski, Peter Handscomb (c), Nic Maddinson, Matt Short, Seb Gotch (wk), Will Sutherland, Scott Boland, Mitchell Perry, Zak Evans, Jon Holland