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Follow UsBy batting in the middle-order, as he’s always done in red-ball cricket for South Australia, Travis Head sort of put to bed speculations that he might open against India. Nevertheless, the explosive left-hander did not fire on his return to first-class cricket, registering scores of 30 & 10. Interestingly, it was spin that got Head on both occasions. While he nicked off to Tanveer Sangha in the first innings, he was cleaned up through a peach by Nathan Lyon in the second.
In the same encounter, Alex Carey continued his stunning form, hammering an 85-ball 90 in the first innings before following it up with a match-saving century in the fourth innings, with South Australia staring at defeat.
Chasing 389, South Australia were reeling at 23/4 when Carey walked in. That’s when the wicketkeeper-batter posted a sublime ton and shared a match-saving 182-run stand with Nathan McSweeney to help South Australia walk away with a draw.
Marnus Labuschagne - 77 & 35* vs WA
Marnus Labuschagne continued his rich vein of form in red-ball cricket, posting scores of 77 & 35* against Western Australia. The right-hander looked set to score a ton in the first innings but got dismissed LBW trying to sweep off-spinner Corey Rocchiccioli when a century was there for the taking. Labuschagne’s last six scores in first-class cricket now read 35*, 77, 19, 119, 93 & 64.
And oh, additionally, Labuschagne entertained on the field as skipper and even picked up a couple of wickets with the ball bowling seam-up, registering figures of 6.2-3-5-2.
Usman Khawaja - 31 & 64* vs WA
Usman Khawaja had a very similar game to Labuschagne, except he cashed in in the second innings after missing an opportunity in the first. Notably, this encounter against Western Australia was Khawaja’s first match as an opener for Queensland since February 2022.
Mitchell Marsh - 13 & 94 vs QLD
Mitchell Marsh endured a shock as on the very first day of the new season, he had to walk in after just three balls, with Western Australia being reduced to 0/2 after 0.2 overs. He was not able to do a great rescue job on day one, perishing for just 13. However, the powerful right-hander made amends in the second innings and posted a well-compiled 94.
Interestingly, Marsh did not bowl in either innings in the contest. With Cameron Green out, Marsh will certainly be required to bowl a lot against India. His bowling fitness is something worth keeping an eye on.
Nathan Lyon - 5/47 & 3/94 vs SA
In his first professional game since July, Nathan Lyon continued to do Nathan Lyon things, picking up eight wickets in the clash against South Australia in Sydney. Lyon got the big wicket of Carey in the first innings and then, as mentioned above, bowled Head with an absolute pearler in the second. Apart from taking eight wickets, Lyon had a solid workload, bowling a total of 63 overs in the contest.
How did the players in the fringes fare?
Michael Neser - 5/68 & 1/62
Sam Whiteman - 102 & 29
Marcus Harris - 143 & 52
Cameron Bancroft - 0 & 0
Matt Renshaw - 6 & 15
Beau Webster - 113, 1/53 & 0/3
Who was the standout performer of the week?
19-year-old Sam Konstas, who became the youngest twin centurion in Sheffield Shield cricket since Ricky Ponting in 1992/93.
Konstas, who played in the U-19 World Cup earlier this year, scored 152 & 105 in just the fifth Shield game of his career. This came on the back of the 57 he scored against Queensland in the last Shield game of the 23/24 season. A few more solid performances and, who knows, Konstas could very well be opening the batting against India.
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