O'Neill, Boland share nine as McSweeney shines in Junction arm wrestle

Nathan McSweeney showcased why he remains firmly in Test calculations with a gritty half-century in the face of some phenomenal seam bowling from Scott Boland and Fergus O'Neill who took nine wickets between them to leave Victoria and South Australia locked in a tight arm wrestle after two days at the Junction Oval.

O'Neill took his fifth career five-wicket haul to maintain his outstanding Sheffield Shield record, while Boland claimed 4 for 53 with spells that were every bit the equal of the best he has shown at Test level, to bowl South Australia out for 283 and give Victoria a narrow two-run first innings lead. That advantage swelled to 48 as Campbell Kellaway and Marcus Harris batted impressively in the final hour of the day.

Victory is crucial for Victoria if they are to maintain a realistic chance of making the Shield final.

Their lead would have been more without McSweeney's 199-ball 60 in very challenging batting conditions. He only struck six boundaries and had to defend and leave stoutly in the face of some high-quality bowling from O'Neill and Boland who delivered 38.4 of the 67.4 overs he was out there for.

He began the day on 9 off 52 balls and was unable to gain any fluency early after Jason Sangha was adjudged lbw not offering a shot to O'Neill for 19.

Jake Lehmann helped break the shackles with a breezy 40 off 43 balls that included two thunderous drives down the ground. O'Neill switched ends to break the 54-run stand, nipping one back from around the wicket to pin Lehmann lbw.

McSweeney started to flow from there despite the loss of Liam Scott, who was also trapped plumb infront by an excellent Xavier Crone yorker. Scott's front foot slid from under him to leave him on all fours as the finger was raised.

McSweeney kept accumulating with the help of Harry Nielsen. But O'Neill's accuracy was unrelenting. McSweeney eventually nicked a good length delivery on off stump to Blake Macdonald at slip who held the low chance.

Nielsen and Ben Manenti then counterattacked against the old ball as Boland and O'Neill rested before the new one was due. The pair added 61 for the seventh wicket before Boland returned to remove them both in quick succession.

Manenti flashed a drive against the second new ball and nicked to Macdonald at first slip. Boland then nipped one back through Nielsen's gate from around the wicket to splay off stump in almost identical fashion to Conor McInerney's dismissal on the first evening. But Nielsen's 45 was vital in the context of the match.

Brendan Doggett and Henry Thornton combined to frustrate Victoria, adding 34 for the ninth wicket before O'Neill switched ends again to take the final two wickets. He took a sharp return catch to remove Doggett for 19 before clean bowling Jordan Buckingham.

It set up a tricky 16-over period in the evening session for Kellaway and Harris to negotiate. But the pair left and defended well against the new ball while rotating the strike impressively to give Victoria the chance to build a significant lead on day three.