Elliott century fires Victoria

Victoria 310 for 5 (Elliott 111) v South Australia
Scorecard

Matthew Elliott scored his third century of the season to give Victoria the upper hand on the first day of their Pura Cup match against South Australia at Adelaide. But SA struck back through Paul Rofe, who grabbed four of the five wickets to fall, including a burst of three wickets in five overs with the second new ball.

At stumps, David Hussey was settling in on 12, and Andrew McDonald had made 8, but the star of the innings was Elliott, scored 111 from 218 balls, with 10 fours, to take his first-class average for the season to 56.50.

Elliott started scratchily, as Rofe beat him regularly on a lively wicket, in a rain-interrupted first session. He took 41 overs to build a century partnership for the first wicket with Matthew Mott, but blossomed late in the day, as he and Brad Hodge shared a 134-run second-wicket partnership at better than four per over.

After taking 131 balls to reach 50, Elliott's last 61 runs came in 87 balls. He was eventually out lbw to the part-time medium pace of Mark Cosgrove, an inspired bowling change from SA's captain, Darren Lehmann.

Hodge also continued his brilliant recent form, scoring 81 from 116 balls, with 12 fours, including consecutive boundaries from John Davison's offspin to bring up his half-century. He was all set for a century before Rofe trapped him lbw with his first over with the second new ball late in the day. It sparked a Victorian slump, with Rofe taking the wickets of Jonathan Moss (27) and Cameron White (0), both caught behind.