First-time opening pair rewrite the record book

Two days into their union at the top of Victoria's daunting batting line-up, Will Pucovski and Marcus Harris have claimed a record that had remained beyond the reach of the best opening batters the state has produced in almost 130 years.

Despite never before having batted together at the top of the order, Harris (207no) and Pucovski (199no) have eclipsed the deeds of legendary Big V predecessors including Bill Woodfull and Bill Ponsford, and Bill Lawry and Ian Redpath.

In batting unconquered for more than a day at Glenelg Oval to post 0-418, the first-time first-wicket combination overtook the previous Victoria best opening effort of 375 set by Test legends Woodfull and Ponsford in the summer of 1926-27.

And already holding a 218-run lead over South Australia after two days' play at Glenelg Oval, the pair resume tomorrow within sight of the all-time record Shield opening partnership of 431 produced by Western Australia's Geoff Marsh and Mike Veletta in the 1989-90 final – also against the Redbacks.

But for a slick piece of fielding from Daniel Worrall in the final over, they might also already be the first opening pair to each post a double century in a Shield game.

However, having pushed part-time spinner Travis Head to backward point for what looked like two runs before Worrall swooped, Pucovski rightly decided spending the night on the cusp of history was preferable to being run out for 199.

There is certainly no indication another chapter of history won't be written first thing Sunday morning.

Victoria skipper Peter Handscomb, who waited six hours for his chance in the middle and spoke on behalf of the record-breaking pair at day's end, admitted it made for special watching even if it was the first time he'd spent a full three sessions on the sidelines with pads on.

"That was awesome, so great to watch," Handscomb said.

"We joked at the start that the perfect day would be none-down at the end of the day, but for Harry and Puc to come out and do something like that – the highest opening partnership for Victoria for all-time – that's a special day.

"It can be quite easy sometimes to just switch off and make a mistake for one ball – that's all it takes.

"So to go through an entire day of batting together, they've been in the middle, they're talking the same rubbish they've spoken to each other for the entire day.

"And for neither of them to throw it away with a poor shot or a bad decision (shows) how much they want to play cricket, they want to do everything they can for Victoria and ultimately push for Harry to go back into Test cricket and for Puc to get his chance."

Handscomb also revealed the decision to install the new combination came after an inspection of the flat Glenelg pitch which convinced Victoria to play an additional bowler, which meant regular opener Travis Dean was squeezed out and Pucovski became the first domino shifted up the order.

It has proved an inspired choice, with the final decision influenced by the way the duo handled pace and spin bowling on a green-top track during Victoria's intra-squad trial at Adelaide Oval No. 2 last week.

Only three other pairs can claim more prolific partnerships in the history of Shield cricket back to 1892-93 – WA pair Chris Rogers (now Victoria coach) and Marcus North (459 for the second wicket in 2006-07), and SA's David Hookes and Wayne Phillips (462 for the fourth in 1986-87).

The biggest-ever partnership in Shield matches is the Waugh brothers (Steve and Mark) 464 for the fifth wicket in New South Wales' match against Western Australia at the WACA Ground in 1990-91.

While the Waugh twins had a lifetime bond underpinning that remarkable stand, Pucovski and Harris have never before opened the batting yet offered barely a chance and even fewer examples of miscommunication.

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"I guess they just had chemistry from the start," Handscomb said tonight.

"Openers have those tight relationships – you see Haydos (ex-test opener Matthew Hayden) and JL (Justin Langer, his long-time partner), they love each other – but I think these two are probably going to love each other a lot after this."

Amid the catalogue of milestones the pair achieved was becoming the first opening combination to bat together through an entire day of Shield cricket since fellow Victorians Matthew Elliott and Jason Arnberger did so in putting together 353 against Tasmania at Punt Road Oval in 1990.

Perhaps of broader importance, while Pucovski's instant success as an opener increased the likelihood of inclusion in Australia's expanded Test squad, Harris's equally flawless knock sent a timely reminder to selectors ahead of their discussions for the upcoming Vodafone Series against India.

It's just over a year since the 28-year-old returned from a challenging Ashes campaign in which he regained his Test place from fellow opener Cameron Bancroft.

But he struggled against England's pace pair Jofra Archer and Stuart Broad who exploited Harris's technical shortcomings from around the wicket and, having averaged a tick under 10 in his six Ashes innings, Harris surrendered his Test berth to Joe Burns at the start of last summer.

Then, despite posting a century in the opening Shield round last summer (also against SA) he managed just four more 50-plus scores for the summer while Burns took his chance.

The left-hander has worked diligently through an atypical off-season spent under strict lockdown in Melbourne and then in quarantine upon arrival in Adelaide last month, where he was in the same four-person training group as Victoria's newly appointed coach, Rogers.

A successful Test opener who scored a mountain of runs in England where negotiating the new ball requires a special skills set, Rogers has worked closely with Harris and didn't hide his satisfaction when his charge reached his hundred shortly before Pucovski also achieved the milestone today.

Victoria's new pairing offered just one genuine chance on their way to the rare and prolific feat.

With the score at 0-244 and Pucovski on 119, the 22-year-old helped a bouncer from Wes Agar around the corner where Conor McInerney dived low to his right at leg slip but failed to grasp the rare chance.

Apart from that, and a couple of half-chances plus a confident lbw shout from Lloyd Pope against Harris that seemed to have found an inside edge, the Victoria openers were imperious against an attack that found few favours in the flat pitch and little inspiration elsewhere.

Redbacks coach Jason Gillespie, overseeing his first full game since returning from his job as coach of Sussex in the UK county competition, offered no excuses for his outfit's barren day.

"We just didn't bowl well enough, it's as simple as that," Gillespie said at day's end.

"We talked about it last night and this morning, the lines and lengths we needed to bowl.

"We were either too short or too full, or we gave the batsmen some width and they played well, the Victorians, and I congratulate them.

"But to an extent we allowed them to bat well.

"We can bowl better than that and the lads are left in no doubt that we need to improve, and we need to improve quickly because it's not good enough.

"The plans were clear, I thought the leadership was excellent so there's no issue there.

"It comes down to getting the skills right and backing the boys up in the field, and we didn't do that."

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