Hunt's Test reminder with century in Gabba gloom

South Australia opener Henry Hunt has defied the Gabba gloom and Queensland's pace attack to send a three-figure reminder to Test selectors.

Hunt batted from the start to finish unbeaten on 104, taking South Australia to 2-190 after a rain-shortened first day of their Marsh Sheffield Shield clash in Brisbane.

The Redback's patient knock came once the hosts, after a two-hour rain delay, opted to bowl in what appeared ideal conditions for the Bulls' quicks. 

And indeed the ball beat the bat regularly but Hunt, arguably the forgotten man behind Marcus Harris, Cameron Bancroft and Matt Renshaw in the race to replace retiring Test opener David Warner, held his nerve.

The 26-year-old survived then flourished after lunch to bring up his eighth first-class century in the shadows of stumps, off 236 balls.

It was Hunt's first Shield score of substance this season and a return to the form that earned him Australia A selection two years ago.

He hit 13 boundaries but the feature of Hunt's knock were the quick singles that released pressure as the Bulls' pace battery hammered away on a wicket full of life.

That running twice almost brought him undone with his century in sight but Queensland couldn't take their chances; batting partner Nathan McSweeney diving to make his ground for the single that brought up Hunt's milestone.

Hunt and Jake Carder (37 off 115) were circumspect as they survived the first session, Michael Neser (0-25 off 14 overs) going for just six runs in his first nine overs.

Gurinder Sandhu (1-49) finally caught Carder's edge after lunch and Jack Wildermuth (1-40) pinned Daniel Drew (12) in front soon after.

But McSweeney (33 not out) joined Hunt to keep the hosts at bay under lights in an unbroken 90-run stand, despite a probing spell from leg-spinner Mitchell Swepson (0-18 from 13 overs). 

"He held their top order together beautifully," Swepson said of Hunt. 

"He'd be happy with how well he left the ball today and waited for us to come to him.

"Only the two wickets but we felt we bowled really well. 

"The new ball's around the corner, hopefully the bowlers freshen up tonight and can do some damage in the morning."

The Bulls have welcomed back Test opener and captain Usman Khawaja after he was rested from their last two Shield fixtures. 

Sheffield Shield 2023-24 standings

Team	Matches played M	Wins W	Losses L	Drawn D	No results N/R	Deductions Ded.	Batting Bonus Bat	Bowling Bonus Bowl	Total points PTS
1 Western Australia Men WA	10	5	2	3	0	0	5.53	9.4	47.93
2 Tasmanian Tigers Men TAS	10	5	2	3	0	0	6.06	8.3	47.36
3 NSW Men NSW	10	4	3	3	0	0	6.31	9	42.31
4 Victoria Men VIC	10	4	4	2	0	0	4.74	8.2	38.94
5 South Australia Men SA	10	3	6	1	0	0	5.19	9.3	33.49
6 Queensland Bulls QLD	10	2	6	2	0	0	3.54	8.3	25.84

Legend

M: Matches played

W: Wins

L: Losses

D: Drawn

N/R: No results

Ded.: Deductions

Bat: Batting Bonus

Bowl: Bowling Bonus

PTS: Total points