Cooper century drives SA into lead

Tom Cooper underpinned a healthy South Australia first innings while Phillip Hughes did not endure in his first innings since serving as Australia's reserve Test batsman in the UAE against Pakistan.

The Redbacks reached 9 for 290 by the close of day two of the floodlit Sheffield Shield match at Adelaide Oval, Cooper's stands of 129 with Travis Head and 82 with Joe Mennie allowing the hosts to establish a handy first-innings lead over New South Wales.

Johan Botha's sixth wicket of the first innings had ended the Blues innings quickly on day two, but Hughes could manage only a flighty 20 before falling to his fellow UAE tourist Mitchell Starc, who formed a far more potent NSW attack than the one fielded against Victoria in round one.

Starc, Gurinder Sandhu and Josh Lalor all made an impact, though Steve O'Keefe was wicketless as he re-adjusted to bowling spin down under. Cooper's runs were made briskly in Head's company before becoming more deliberate alongside Mennie, who helped ensure the Blues would trail entering day three.