Hughes steers Redbacks to big win

Phillip Hughes continued to show the improvements he has made in his time out of the national setup, steering South Australia to a hefty nine-wicket win over Queensland at Adelaide Oval. After Kane Richardson picked up six wickets to restrict the Bulls to 189, Hughes guided the chase with ease and finished unbeaten on 95 when the winning runs came in the 37th over, handing the Redbacks a valuable bonus point.

Hughes and Michael Klinger put on 138 for the opening wicket and quickly ended any hopes Queensland may have had of defending their small total. Klinger faced more of the strike and brought up his half-century from 60 deliveries, eventually departing for 72 when he was trapped lbw by James Hopes.

But it was Hughes who was most impressive, scoring all around the ground in a confident display as he brought up his fifty from 56 deliveries. He found gaps with his usual cuts and cover-drives, and notably with pulls through and in front of square, which has not always been a strong area for him. Hughes has now started his first season as a South Australia player solidly, adding to the 95 and 83 he made in the first Sheffield Shield game.

He brought up the victory with six over long-on from the spin of Brad Ipson, and it was a fittingly dominant way to end a match that South Australia owned completely. The result had been set up earlier in the day by Richardson, who was named Man of the Match for his 6 for 48, the equal third-best one-day bowling figures by a South Australia player.

Things weren't going too badly for the Bulls early as the opener Usman Khawaja brought up a confident half-century. But having pulled Richardson for six in the 24th over, Khawaja tried to repeat the stroke a few balls later and managed only to sky a catch to deep midwicket, where he was caught for 57 from 69 balls.

It was just what the Bulls didn't need, for none of the rest of their batsmen found it easy to get in. Richardson caused all kinds of havoc in his next over, picking up three wickets as Peter Forrest was hurried by a bouncer and fended a catch to fine leg, Chris Lynn was caught and bowled off a leading edge and Nathan Reardon edged behind from a ball that moved away.

Queensland were wobbling badly at 5 for 103, and it took some patience from Joe Burns to help steady things. Burns had taken 16 balls to get off the mark, with a slog-swept six off Johan Botha, but after that he found scoring difficult and scratched out 51 from 83 balls, while he had support from Ipson, who made 33 batting at No.9. But Richardson's strikes had been terminal for Queensland, who were bowled out for 189 in the 49th over.