Harper slams record ton for Victoria in epic rescue mission

Fresh from viewing Hollywood blockbuster 'The Dark Knight' as rain soaked Adelaide Oval this morning, Sam Harper lit up an otherwise gloomy day with the fastest Marsh Sheffield Shield century posted by a Victoria batter.

Harper's 64-ball ton – bettered only by South Australia's David Hookes (35 deliveries) and Western Australia's Luke Ronchi (51) – was rendered even more remarkable by dint of the difficult batting conditions and the match situation that saw Victoria on the precipice at 5-67 when he went to the wicket.

While the 26-year-old denied he had taken inspiration from the Batman film's 'Joker' character to wreak mayhem in his unbeaten 101, he was afforded a laugh at his rivals' expense having been caught at slip off a no-ball from Wes Agar when on three.

That would have left Victoria 6-71 having been sent into bat, but instead they ended a soggy day 5-187 with Campbell Kellaway 38no in a role of stoic henchman in the pair's unbroken stand that has so far yielded 120 from less than 20 overs.

Harper reached his milestone shortly before play was halted due to bad light, and in suitably belligerent fashion by lifting seamer Liam Scott beyond the boundary rope at deep mid-wicket to land his sixth six alongside 11 boundaries.

It was the 'keeper-batter's third Shield century, and the first time in his 44-match first-class career he's scored at a rate above 80 per 100 balls faced, reaching his hundred striking above 150 which was made even more remarkable by the dank and dark conditions in which all other batters struggled.

Harper belted three sixes and a couple of fours off a single over from Nathan McAndrew to surge into the 80s and post the 100-run sixth-wicket stand with Kellaway that arrived from just 86 balls faced.

"I got a bit of luck early with the no-ball and just started trying to play a few shots, and it was good fun," Harper said at day's end, revealing he made a conscious effort to get down the pitch to SA's seamers after Victoria's top five batters all nicked off.

"Their three main quicks (Agar, Brendon Doggett and McAndrew) all pose big threats, and the boys early doors said it was nipping around a bit so I felt like if you got stuck on the crease you were just going to nick one."

Agar (3-25) had struck the initial blows, removing openers Travis Dean and Marcus Harris in his first two overs, before Doggett got rid of Will Pucovski and then Peter Handscomb, with the latter dismissal coming amid some conjecture.

The controversy erupted from the first delivery after the truncated day's first drinks break, when Handscomb pushed forward to a length ball from Doggett and edged low towards Jake Lehmann at third slip.

The Redbacks captain appeared to move smartly to his right and get both hands underneath the low chance, and kept the ball above the turf as he landed on his elbows.

But the former Victoria skipper stood unmoved at the crease, prompting bemusement from the bowling team and a conference between officiating umpire Nathan Johnstone and his colleague at square leg, Mike Graham-Smith who is standing in his 50th match.

As the SA players formed a celebratory huddle, delighted at having removed the ex-Test batter to leave Victoria 4-29 in the 11th over, Handscomb remained at the wicket prompting the umpires to seek a word with Lehmann.

During the course of that discussion, Handscomb made a scooping gesture with both hands as if to suggest he suspected the ball bounced before nestling in Lehmann's hands and also motioned towards the square leg boundary perhaps seeking clarification from television footage.

But with no replay or DRS facilities available to umpires at Sheffield Shield level, the catch was deemed to be clean and Handscomb cut a disconsolate figure as he headed for the dressing room.

"I was at mid-on, I thought it went in cleanly and I back 'Mossy' (Lehmann), he's a fair player of the game and he thought it went in cleanly and I think the replay showed that," Agar said after stumps.

"He (Handscomb) didn't think it had carried, and I think there was a word somewhere out there … if the ball hits the grass, whether it's in the hand or not, he doesn't think it's out.

"But Mossy thought (the fingers) went straight under and I back Mossy to the hilt every day."

At one stage, it seemed the entire first day would be lost to the wild late-spring weather that dumped almost 40mm of rain on Adelaide Oval in the 12 hours prior to play eventually starting at 3pm.

With 51 overs to be bowled under heavy cloud and amid lingering damp, the visitors were always going to be tested by the Redbacks' seam attack that had been strengthened through the inclusion of bowling allrounder Scott.

And the difficulties posed for batters were laid bare in Agar's opening over when the recalled quick, who had missed SA's past two Shield games with back soreness, produced a delivery that flew from a length and found the edge of Dean's bat as he attempted to withdraw it in surprise.

"It was a good toss to win, and I think it was a credit to us to go out there and get on top early and I think that's why we're not in as bad a position even though we let it go tonight a little bit," Agar said.

"We're still driving the game forward."

Agar struck again in his next over, although the manner of Test aspirant Harris's departure provided a stark contrast as the left-hander chased a short, wide ball he might have let pass.

It ensured a dream return to competitive cricket for Test wicketkeeper Alex Carey, who pouched both catches moving smartly to his right (Dean) and left (Harris) to reduce Victoria to 2-4.

When Pucovski became the third Victorian to be caught behind the wicket, having reached double figures for the fourth time in a season where he's not yet made 40, Handscomb seemingly stood as Victoria's sole experienced batter.

But after his departure amid conjecture and his captaincy successor Will Sutherland's removal to another low slips catch, Victoria's innings was saved by Harper's enterprising stand with Kellaway.

Victoria had made one change to their XI for this match, with veteran seamer Peter Siddle replacing Test quick Scott Boland who is with the squad but being managed ahead of the men's international summer starting next month.

The Redbacks swung three changes, with Carey replacing Harry Nielsen and Agar taking the place of Jordan Buckingham who was the hero of SA's last-gasp win over Queensland, while Daniel Drew – the second-highest run-scorer in the Shield last summer – was omitted to make way for Scott.

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