Queensland open title defence with big win

Queensland 398 and 8 for 248 dec beat South Australia 184 and 271 (Hughes 83, Mennie 79*, Feldman 4-50, Cutting 3-51) by 191 runs
Scorecard

A pair of fighting half-centuries from Phillip Hughes in his first match for South Australia wasn't enough to stop Queensland open their Sheffield Shield title defence with a comfortable win at the Gabba. The 191-run margin was confirmed after Luke Feldman and Ben Cutting led a strong performance with the ball from Queensland, who dismissed South Australia for 271 in their second-innings chase of 463.

The Redbacks began the day two wickets down and needing a minor miracle to avoid defeat, and the loss of Callum Ferguson for 44 to Cutting didn't help their cause. Hughes departed soon afterwards for 83 to add to his 95 from the first innings, a fine output in his first game since moving from New South Wales, but with precious little support from the rest of the order it would have taken a couple of big centuries from Hughes to keep South Australia in the contest.

Feldman (4 for 50) ran through the middle order and was at one stage on a hat-trick, as the Redbacks lost 5 for 18 in less than five overs, before Nathan Lyon (21) and Joe Mennie began a tail-end resistance. Mennie struck his maiden first-class half-century and finished on 79 not out from 74 deliveries as the fight ran out for the Redbacks.

South Australia did not win a match in last year's Sheffield Shield competition and have finished on the bottom of the table for each of the past three seasons. This loss extended their poor record to no wins from their past 17 Sheffield Shield matches.