SA's title hopes further boosted by McInerney's maiden ton

The missing piece of South Australia's pre-Sheffield Shield final selection puzzle fell neatly into place when oft-maligned opener Conor McInerney posted a maiden first-class century seven years in the making.

On a stifling Adelaide afternoon where temperatures nudged 42C in the final session, SA warmed up to end their three decades-long Shield drought by rattling on 4-359 against second-placed Queensland led by McInerney's breakthrough 142.

The title favourites are expected to remain at the crease until deep into Sunday to maximise batting preparations for the grand final, and resume with Test keeper Alex Carey 46no and last game's matchwinner Jake Lehmann 27no having posted the highest first-day Shield total at Karen Rolton Oval.

Queensland's hopes of reaching the play-off now ride on them conjuring an outright win while hoping their rivals for the finale cannot, given they secured just 0.4 bowling bonus points on day one and only seven overs to add to that tally tomorrow.

On a plum batting pitch at the venue that will host the final from March 26, McInerney reached his milestone from 157 balls to ensure all top six batters SA will take into the decider have posted triple-figure scores at least once this season.

Queensland skipper Marnus Labuschagne's frustration at losing the coin toss to his former teammate and close friend Nathan McSweeney was audibly obvious, but the Bulls' day-one predicament was partly self-inflicted.

The bespectacled McInerney, who entered ladder leader SA's final minor round game with an average of 20.34 and a high score of 75 from 47 previous Shield innings, should have been caught behind on 56 and might have been run out on 92 and 103.

But the 30-year-old remained unfazed by those near misses and unbowed in the extreme heat to reach the long-cherished milestone with a sweetly struck straight drive to the boundary off part-time spinner Matthew Renshaw.

No sooner had the ball crossed the rope than McInerney was wrapped in an embrace from McSweeney, his teammate at Premier Cricket club Glenelg, and then thrashed his bat and pumped a fist towards the SA dressing rooms before throwing back his head in relief.

"Words couldn't really describe it when it happened," McInerney said after stumps today, having been dismissed for 0 and 1 in SA's previous Shield outing against Victoria.

"Lots of hard work and lots of years now, so to get a century in first-class cricket is amazing."

"The coaching staff and Nathan (McSweeney) took me aside (after Victoria game) and backed me in, which was really nice of them to move on from that game and support me and pump me up.

"So I'm really grateful for that, and for them to be on my side.

"And not just them, but also the whole team got around me and tried to pump my confidence up so I can't thank them enough."

Of regular opener batters to have played Shield cricket over the past 132 years, only Victoria's Paul Hibbert (53) went to the crease more times before reaching his inaugural century.

McInerney may take some heart in knowing the famously stodgy Hibbert had already played his sole Test by the time he posted 119 against New South Wales in 1979-80, having earned a Baggy Green Cap by scoring a tour-match hundred against India in 1977 that didn't include a single boundary.

By contrast, fellow left-hander McInerney's five-hour innings today was laced with 23 fours, including some memorable back-foot punches through the off-side and glorious drives down the ground when Queensland's tiring attack erred in length.

While new-ball pair Michael Neser (1-54) and Mark Steketee (0-61) were the Bulls' tidiest on a track that offered little assistance under scorching sun and a foul north wind, it was 19-year-old quick Callum Vidler who loomed as the most potent.

Bowling with genuine pace that posed problems for SA's experienced batters when he got it right, the teenager snared the only breakthrough of the opening session when he lured opener Henry Hunt (in his 50th Shield appearance) into a false stroke.

And he should have claimed a second shortly after lunch when McInerney similarly fended at a quick ball angled across him.

But having edged a waist-high chance to keeper Jimmy Peirson's left, McInerney watched as the Queensland gloveman pulled out at the last minute leaving first-slip Ben McDermott no time to react as the ball sailed between them and unimpeded to the boundary.

Had that opportunity been grasped, not only might the Bulls' hopes of reaching the upcoming Shield final looked decidedly healthier but McInerney's critics could have pointed to another unrealised start.

Recalled to the SA line-up for the final game of last summer after more than three years on the outer, he began this season having not exceeded 50 in his 19 preceding Shield innings and not having reached 30 in his previous 10.

But 51 against Queensland in Brisbane at summer's start, followed by a then-career high 75 in Hobart and 61 against Tasmania in Adelaide saw him retain selectors' favour.

With the Karen Rolton Oval's electronic scoreboard not operating in today's heat and a manual system showing only the team total deployed in its place, McInerney revealed he was unaware of his individual score as he neared his maiden ton.

But his Queensland rivals attempted to break the left-hander's concentration by letting him know he was within a boundary of the promised land when Renshaw took the ball.

"In Renshaw's over, they yelled out I was on 97 so I believed them," McInerney said.

"They could have been lying, but I believed them and when I hit that ball and Buddha (McSweeney) yelled out 'run hard' and the (SA) boys started shouting … I think it was a good thing I didn't know, to be honest.

"I was very conscious of it.

"I think every batter is like that and the more games you play without one (century) you think about it even more.

"I tried to never give up.

"I love representing South Australia being from here my whole life.

"I never gave up but there was probably times when I thought it might not happen."

A highly popular figure with teammates, McInerney's tenure was also aided by the bond he's formed with fellow opener Hunt who has been his team's leading run-scorer this summer and crucial to their hopes of a first Shield title since 1995-96.

McInerney looked deservedly weary though understandably disappointed when he fell an hour before stumps, caught in two minds by one of Labuschagne's habitual bouncers that he bunted back to the bowler who unleashed the day's second-biggest celebration.

It was emblematic of the pitch's benign nature that two of SA's first three wickets fell to skied catches from miscued shots against short-pitched balls, after McSweeney's innings ended on 41 following his 132-run stand with McInerney.

Then the belated arrival of the second new ball late in the day, after 83 largely fruitless overs, brought immediate dividends when Neser pinned Jason Sangha lbw for a tidy 67 that further boosted SA's batting confidence heading into the final.

Sheffield Shield standings 2024-25

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 South Australia Men SA	9	6	1	2	0	0	5.46	8.3	51.76
2 Queensland Bulls QLD	9	3	3	3	0	0	7.5	8.3	36.8
3 NSW Men NSW	9	3	3	3	0	0	6.99	7.4	35.39
4 Western Australia Men WA	9	3	3	3	0	0	5.83	7.6	34.43
5 Victoria Men VIC	9	3	5	1	0	0	5.19	8.3	32.49
6 Tasmanian Tigers Men TAS	9	2	5	2	0	0	6.41	7.2	27.61

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