Head leads strong South Australia with century

South Australia 5 for 360 (Head 130, Cooper 93*, Weatherald 88, Boland 3-90) v Victoria
Scorecard

Travis Head scored the fourth century of his first-class career, while Tom Cooper and Jake Weatherald also piled on the runs as South Australia dominated the first day against Victoria at the MCG. At stumps, the Redbacks had motored along to 5 for 360, with Cooper on 93 and in-form wicketkeeper-batsman Alex Carey on 17.

However, Callum Ferguson's lean patch continued when he was caught behind off Scott Boland for 5. It means that Ferguson has failed to reach double figures in any of his past six first-class innings, with a run of scores reading 0, 3, 1, 4, 4 and 5. Two of those innings - the 3 and the 1 - came in his appearance for Australia in the Hobart Test.

Weatherald struck a brisk 88 before he was also caught behind off Boland, and Jake Lehmann was lbw to Jon Holland for 2, which left South Australia at 4 for 133. But Head and Cooper then combined for a 188-run stand that pushed the Redbacks up over 300, and brought Head his first hundred of the season.

Always a promising batsman, Head took until the 64th innings of his first-class career - in November last year - to finally score a century. He now has four in the space of just over 12 months, and moved on to 130 before he was bowled, the third wicket for Boland.

Cooper, celebrating his 30th birthday, also continued his productive start to the summer. He began the Shield campaign with 138 against Western Australia in Perth and has the perfect opportunity to bring up a ninth first-class hundred on day two.