Unheralded Tasmanian batsman Alex Doolan continued to pile on the runs in Australia A’s tour match with South Africa, scoring a fine century at the SCG on Saturday.
Building on the solid foundations laid by Rob Quiney (85), Steve Smith (67) and Glenn Maxwell (64) on Friday, Doolan (132 not out) and former Test wicketkeeper Tim Paine (40 not out) continued to frustrate the Proteas’ attack into the second day of their match.
The pair put on the third century stand of the match, their partnership of 111 moving the hosts to 7-429 by the end of the first session.
Doolan reached three figures with a sweet cut shot off stocky paceman Rory Kleinveldt (2-60) that raced to the boundary.
It is the 26-year-old’s fifth first-class century and came against a world-class attack boasting the top two Test bowlers in Dale Steyn and Vernon Philander.
Doolan reached the milestone off 179 balls and, by lunch, had whacked 17 boundaries and a six in an impressive display.
Friday’s South African hero Steyn bowled four fruitless overs before being given a break. The bulk of the work on Saturday morning has been taken on by spin trio Imran Tahir (2-136), JP Duminy (0-53) and Faf du Plessis (0-21).