Harper flays 76-ball century to give Victoria control

Sam Harper counterattacked in-form quick Jhye Richardson with devastating effect on his way to a rollicking 76-ball century at the bowler-friendly WACA ground as Victoria held sway after a whirlwind opening day.

The visitors did leave the door open for Western Australia with wickets falling regularly after lunch in what shapes as a pivotal match for top-placed Victoria, who are eyeing hosting rights for the final.

Harper absolutely dominated the first half of the day with 119 off 109 balls and set the tone with an early onslaught of Richardson, who was coming off a standout 5 for 83 from 35 overs against Tasmania in his first Shield match in 15 months.

Richardson bowled better later in the day to finish with 1 for 71 from 19 overs and he also ran out Fergus O'Neill with a direct underarm throw at the bowler's end. But WA, whose season is effectively over, were forced to play catch up after Harper's fourth first-class century ended a lean patch, where he made just 56 runs from six innings across formats. His rapid scoring ensured Victoria finished with a brisk run rate of 3.63.

Batting early in matches at the WACA has traditionally been difficult and much of the same was expected in overcast conditions. WA skipper Sam Whiteman continued the long trend on the ground and elected to bowl after winning the toss, but was soon to rue the decision after Harper did not muck about.

He backed his attacking instincts to knock a rattled Richardson off his lengths by continually driving exquisitely through the covers when the ball was pitched up. Having been so miserly against Tasmania, Richardson sported the eyesore figures of 0 for 28 from his opening four-over spell with his short deliveries also being treated with disdain by Harper.

Victoria reached 50 without loss within the opening seven overs, with Harper contributing 40 runs as he completely overshadowed opening partner Campbell Kellaway. In the blink of an eye, Harper raised his bat as the stunned WACA faithful graciously applauded with his 27-ball half-century achieved in fitting fashion with another bludgeoning boundary.

WA had momentary relief when Harper was left on his haunches for several minutes after copping a hit in the groin by a sharp Cameron Gannon delivery before normal service resumed.

Whiteman desperately turned to offspinner Corey Rocchiccioli in the 10th over before throwing the ball to debutant Kade Povey, a 21-year-old allrounder who at this stage of his fledgling career is considered more adept with bat than ball.

He had big shoes to fill replacing Willetton club cricket team-mate Aaron Hardie, who was ruled out with a hamstring niggle. Povey, who had earlier received his WA cap from Mike Hussey, bustled in and bowled accurately to at least halt the run rate in an impressive start to his first-class career.

His disciplined effort ensured Harper did not reach his century before lunch, but a rare wicketless session at the WACA ensued with Victoria at 126 without loss.

The break revitalised WA with Gannon striking on the first ball after resumption when Kellaway edged a length delivery low down to Rocchiccioli at first slip.

But Harper remained a thorn and a cracking straight drive brought up one of the most cavalier centuries seen on this famous ground.

Victoria were in an imperious position at 169 for 1 before seemingly out of nowhere losing 4 for 46, including Harper who had a tame ending when he tried to work Rocchiccioli on the legside only to chip to short midwicket.

Rocchiccioli, always energetic, had his tail up having moments earlier dismissed Blake Macdonald, who holed out to long-on where Povey claimed his first catch at this level.

Quick Brody Couch then nicked off Peter Handscomb and Ollie Peake to cap WA's rally. Peake fell for a six-ball duck after loosely driving on the up in a baptism of fire in his return after captaining Australia in the Under-19 World Cup played on slower surfaces in southern Africa.

On his return after being dropped from Australia's T20 World Cup squad, Matthew Short steadied Victoria in the final session with measured batting before nicking off on 42 as Richardson finally had reason to celebrate.

Victoria's lengthy batting-order frustrated WA before stumps as attention on day two turns to Scott Boland, who returns to the field for the first time since his starring role in the Ashes.