Western Australia maintained a commanding grip on their Sheffield Shield match against South Australia despite a chaotic 18-wicket day that saw both sides suffer severe batting collapses at Adelaide Oval.
After resuming their first innings on day two at 3-304, Western Australia pushed their total to 5-406 declared. Former Test opener Cameron Bancroft, who had been unbeaten overnight on 156, added 30 runs before falling for 186. Bancroft was dismissed when Brendan Doggett pulled off a brilliant catch on the boundary, tossing the ball up while stumbling over the rope before stepping back inside to complete the dismissal. Corey Wasley also contributed briskly, finishing unbeaten on 60 off 57 balls.
Faced with a formidable target, South Australia collapsed to 154 all out in just 37.1 overs. Paceman Jhye Richardson tore through the top order, finishing with 3-29 and leaving the two-time defending champions reeling at 3-24. Richardson removed Mackenzie Harvey for two, caught at slip, and followed two overs later by trapping Nathan McSweeney lbw for one. He then came agonizingly close to a hat-trick when Hilton Cartwright took a juggling catch at slip to dismiss Jason Sangha for a golden duck.
Richardson’s hat-trick delivery was a sharp delivery that pitched in line and stayed low, crashing into the pads of Jake Lehmann. The visiting team erupted in a mass appeal, but the umpire turned down the leg-before shout.
Spinners Ashton Agar and Corey Rocchiccioli, along with paceman Liam Haskett, applied further pressure as South Australia’s innings folded. Agar and Rocchiccioli claimed two wickets apiece, taking 2-35 and 2-10 respectively, while Haskett chipped in with 2-28. Jake Weatherald top-scored for the home side with 40 before being bowled by Agar, and Ben Manenti remained unbeaten on 38.
Despite having a first-innings lead of 252, Western Australia’s second innings also unraveled quickly on a bowler-friendly pitch. Doggett struck back with 3-19 and Liam Scott claimed 2-17 as the visitors slumped from 1-35 to 6-74 late in the day. Bancroft was dismissed a second time, caught behind off Scott for 23.
At stumps, Western Australia reached 6-79 in their second innings, holding an overall lead of 331 with two days remaining in the contest. In stark contrast to the opening day—when only three wickets fell across the entire session—thursday saw dramatic upheaval.
“It was a bit of a disappointing way to finish the day with our second innings so far, but we’re obviously still in a strong position and hopefully a couple more partnerships and we can be in an even strong position to win,” Bancroft said at stumps. “It was nice personally to get in and find a little bit of flow and rhythm out there. It’s probably something I’ve been searching for a little bit; we all go through those phases, but it was my day.”
