WA take control on day one despite Pope's haul

Lloyd Pope gave Australian cricket yet another performance to savour as the flame-haired destroyer stole the limelight from emerging star Cameron Green on the opening day of the Marsh Sheffield Shield.

Pope stopped Green (56 off 119 balls) in his tracks as the prodigious Western Australian pushed towards yet another first-class century, dismissing him and the rest of WA's top five on the way to his second Shield five-wicket haul at Adelaide's Karen Rolton Oval on Saturday.

The 20-year-old leg-spinner took 5-94 from 21 overs and was South Australia's only wicket taker on day one as the visitors reached 5-310 at stumps, with Ashton Agar (51 not out) hitting a brisk half-century late in the day.

His blistering 95-run partnership with keeper Josh Inglis (48 not out) ensured WA held the upper hand at the close of play.

It continues a pattern of memorable breakout performances for the enigmatic Pope, who became a cult hero when he took 8-35 against England in the 2018 Under-19 World Cup, before taking 7-87 in just his second Shield game later that year.

The 20-year-old's first six overs cost 41 runs in a jittery start to life as the Redbacks' first-choice (and only contracted) spin bowler before dismissing Cameron Bancroft (46) with an astonishing drifting delivery to break a 106-run opening partnership.

That seemingly sparked a burst of fresh confidence as Pope removed the impressive Sam Whiteman (65) three balls after Bancroft, before engineering a collapse of 3-27 in the final session.

Green's patient half-century will only add to the hype that the tall allrounder (who remains sidelined from the bowling crease for now) is destined for a Baggy Green, though he too fell victim to Pope's beguiling loop when he was out lbw.

It was WA who had made the early running as captain Shaun Marsh elected to bat first and watched on as openers Bancroft and Whiteman saw off the home side's fast bowlers' initial bursts, appearing largely untroubled before Pope's final over before lunch.

The pair had in fact gathered pace leading into lunch, scoring at a run-a-ball for the final nine overs before the interval as Whiteman brought up his fourth half-century from his last five first-class innings.

But the openers' main target in their brisk scoring spree, Pope, delivered two telling blows against the run of play.

A wicked wrong'un that veered almost magically between Bancroft's bat and pad, surprising even the bowler who briefly appealed for an lbw before teammates pointed out he had dislodged the leg bail.

It was a brave bit of captaincy from Travis Head that then wrangled Whiteman out; despite the left-hander continuing his charge by slapping two more consecutive boundaries off Pope, the skipper remained at the leg-slip he had moved himself to for the final over before lunch and pouched an easy catch on the last delivery.

There is a 16-year age gap between Shaun Marsh (37) and Green (21) but the duo were in sync as they put on 73, with a tough caught-and-bowled chance put down by Sayers off Marsh the only chance.

But Pope gained in poise in a more miserly second spell and was rewarded with two more quick scalps after tea - another sharp leg-slip catch by Head off Marsh before keeper Harry Nielsen caught a deflection off Ashton Turner's outside edge – before the prized scalp of Green.

Despite the wrist-spinner's efforts, Agar, promoted to bat at six as WA fielded four fast bowlers, and Inglis tipped the balance steadily back in WA's favour late on as they saw off the second new ball.

Western Australia XI: Cameron Bancroft, Sam Whiteman, Shaun Marsh, Cameron Green, Ashton Turner, Ashton Agar, Josh Inglis (wk), Joel Paris, Matt Kelly, Cameron Gannon, Lance Morris

South Australia XI: Jake Weatherald, Henry Hunt, Brad Davis, Travis Head (c), Tom Cooper, Harry Nielsen (wk), Liam Scott, Nick Winter, Chadd Sayers, Wes Agar, Lloyd Pope

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