Tasmania allrounder Evan Gulbis posted his maiden first-class century as the Tigers put a significant dent in South Australia’s hopes of appearing in their first Sheffield Shield final for 18 years.
The Tigers were 8-507 at stumps on Wednesday, a huge lead of 295 runs on the first innings after just two days.
The home side are well placed to finish an otherwise disappointing season with a stylish outright win thanks to Jackson Bird’s day-one bowling masterclass and a dominant batting performance.
Following the lead set by opener Mark Cosgrove (110) who had posted his first ton for the season during the morning session, Gulbis brought up his own milestone late in the afternoon by turning part-time spinner Tom Cooper to the leg-side for a quick single.
The former Victorian saluted his applauding teammates and embraced batting partner Tim Paine (87) in the middle of Bellerive Oval in a moment sure to erase memories of the four consecutive ducks he made during his first two Shield matches for the Tigers.
He finished unbeaten on 156 and will resume alongside Xavier Doherty on Thursday morning after Ben Hilfenhaus (30) was bowled by Callum Ferguson (1-23) with the penultimate ball of the day.
Gulbis had joined stand-in skipper Paine with the Tigers wobbling somewhat at 6-238 and at risk of letting slip their chance to pile on a big first-innings lead after they had restricted the Redbacks to just 212 on day one.
But far from allowing an all-too-familiar collapse to mar the side’s first-innings reply, the pair piled on 190 for the seventh wicket to put South Australia’s finals hopes in serious jeopardy.
Coming into the match the Redbacks were a chance to host the final if they won and saw other results fall their way.
But now – just halfway through the contest at Bellerive – they are a long way from securing the outright points needed to guarantee a place in the decider.
With NSW and Queensland on top in their respective matches against Western Australia and Victoria, the Redbacks may need to conjure a remarkable second-innings turnaround to keep their season alive.
Cosgrove and Ben Dunk (72) had resumed on Wednesday and chipped away at the 213 runs required for first-innings points before Dunk scooped a catch to Cooper from Chadd Sayers’ bowling.
Cosgrove, Beau Webster (18) and Luke Butterworth (15) followed soon after and the Tigers dropped 4-47 either side of the lunch break to give the Redbacks some chance of restricting their first-innings deficit.
