Western Australia and South Australia had to settle for a draw on Saturday as their Sheffield Shield match came to a tepid end at Adelaide Oval.
After losing wickets either side of lunch, the Warriors took a more defensive approach in their second innings to avoid defeat on the new drop-in pitch being used at the recently-renovated ground.
The visitors battled their way to 3-202 at the close of play with former Test batsman and the competition’s leading run-scorer Marcus North finishing on an industrious 84 not out – just shy of a second century in four days.
Mitch Marsh, who recently returned from a hamstring injury, was at the crease with North until the end and played a free-spirited role striking 11 boundaries for an unbeaten 65.
After bowling out the Redbacks for 601 on Saturday morning, North and fellow opener Cameron Bancroft were eager to score runs quickly and cut the 167-run deficit the Warriors trailed by.
But the emphasis changed to a defensive approach when Bancroft was trapped lbw for 25 on the verge of lunch by Joe Mennie (1-16) and John Rogers was dismissed by Redbacks captain Johan Botha (1-22) for four shortly after the midday break.
WA’s no-nonsense mindset was set in stone when skipper Shaun Marsh was sent packing on 13 after Tom Cooper reacted instantly to take a sensational catch at short mid-wicket from spinner Adam Zampa’s (1-62) bowling.
North survived a dropped catch in the slips on the last ball prior to tea, before going on to bring up his second half-century in three matches following the interval.
Marsh scored his eight first-class 50 late in proceedings to give the Warriors the lead again.
Earlier, SA paid the price for their gung-ho approach on day four and lost 5-47 in quick succession as they endeavoured to force a result.
Although wickets tumbled, the Redbacks managed to break a 42-year record for the highest score ever recorded by an SA side against WA, blitzing past the previous mark of 9-575.
Warriors paceman Nathan Rimmington was the chief destroyer with the ball, claiming figures of 3-86 after cleaning up the home side’s tail.
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