Boland bags four as Weatherald and Drew star for South Australia

Scott Boland picked up where he left off in the Ashes claiming four of five wickets to keep Victoria in the hunt after a century from Jake Weatherald and 96 not out from Daniel Drew put South Australia in a strong position on the opening day at Adelaide Oval.

Boland was a one-man band for the visitors after the Redbacks won the toss and batted on a good batting strip. He knocked over Jake Carder and Travis Head in the same over before returning later to remove Weatherald for 122 and Test keeper Alex Carey.

Boland claimed all four left-handers from around the wicket. He pinned Carder and Head on the crease and both were plumb lbw in almost identical fashion, within three balls of each other, to leave the Redbacks wobbling at 3 for 77. Head, who was player of the series in the Ashes, fell without scoring.

But Weatherald and Drew took control of the match with an excellent 153-run stand. Weatherald put a difficult summer with the bat behind him striking 10 fours and two sixes on his way to his eighth first-class century. He played with typical aggression square of the wicket, punishing anything loose. Drew, playing in just his second first-class match and his first since 2019, struck 13 boundaries in his 243-ball stay. His 13th boundary came in the final over the day to move within four runs of a maiden first-class century but he faced three dots from Jon Holland to finish unbeaten on 96 at stumps.

Drew might have got there without Boland's disruptive spell with the second new ball. He picked up Weatherald from around the wicket with the opener closing the face to a ball that straightened off the seam and the leading edge ballooned to cover. Carey attempted a booming drive eight overs later and was bowled off the inside edge by a ball that just nibbled back off the seam.

The only other Victorian bowler to break through was Mitchell Perry who removed Henry Hunt early in the day. Sam Harper took an outstanding juggling catch diving to his right for the first wicket of the morning.