Johnson takes two in encouraging display

Western Australia 0 for 49 trail South Australia 222 (Head 51, Mennie 50, Behrendorff 4-58, Hogan 3-43) by 173 runs
Scorecard

Mitchell Johnson claimed only two wickets but bowled with enough intensity to encourage Australia's selectors on the first day of Western Australia's Sheffield Shield match against South Australia at the WACA. Johnson has a good chance of being recalled to the Test side for the opening Ashes match at the Gabba and although he was at times wayward, he also sent down plenty of challenging deliveries.

Although Johnson left the field with a foot problem during the day, he returned to claim the final wicket of Joe Mennie (50) to add to his lbw of Travis Head for 51 earlier in the day to finish with 2 for 74 from 16.4 overs. Johnson started the day with two wides from his first three balls but later delivered several lifting balls that made life awkward for the batsmen, although his team-mates finished with better figures.

Jason Behrendorff collected 4 for 58 and Michael Hogan took 3 for 43 as the South Australians struggled to make the most of the opportunity to bat first after winning the toss. Head and Mennie were the only batsmen to score half-centuries and Phillip Hughes, the only batsman who could have been pushing for Test selection, was caught behind off Hogan for 25.

The Redbacks were dismissed for 222 in the post-tea session, leaving 21 overs for the Warriors to move along to 0 for 49. Cameron Bancroft went to stumps on 25 with Marcus North on 22.