South Australia’s grip on a Sheffield Shield final berth suffered a blow on Thursday, with rookie NSW paceman Gurinder Sandhu blasting their batting order apart at the SCG.
Fresh from taking 5-31 on debut against Victoria, the 19-year-old quick again belied his gentle pace to dismantle the Redbacks’ top order in ruthless fashion as the visitors slumped to 8-132 by tea on day one.
Sandhu was fortunate to have opener Sam Raphael (5) chop onto his stumps, but his next three wickets were all class.
Using his near two-metre frame, Sandhu extracted extra bounce from the SCG wicket to force edges from Alex Carey (10) and the experienced Michael Klinger (22) – and both offerings were taken by Trent Copeland at first slip.
Sandhu’s next offering was even more impressive, coaxing an outside edge from Jake Brown with a perfect-length delivery which shaped away from the batsman.
Johan Botha is unbeaten on 25, overtaking Klinger’s 22 just prior to the tea break to become the top scorer on a disastrous batting day for the Redbacks who came into the game in second place on the ladder.
Former Test paceman Copeland and Josh Hazlewood both chimed in with two wickets, with Hazlewood snaring the prized scalp of Callum Ferguson (17) who was caught behind while cutting at a delivery too close to the body.
Both teams have their eyes on an outright victory as they chase a spot in next week’s Shield final.
The Blues are in last place with 23 points on the ladder but, remarkably, could still host the final if they secure maximum points and other results fall their way.
South Australia, on 26 points, are better placed to reach the decider but would still need an outright win to assure themselves of a spot.