Sheffield Shield: New South Wales script easy 10-wicket win
New South Wales sealed a 10-wicket victory in their opening game of the season’s Sheffield Shield trophy, despite some counter-attacking efforts from South Australia's lower-order batsman Chris Duval. The South Australians barely managed to make New South
Wales play in the second innings as their opening batsmen Nic Maddinson and Phil Jaques knocked off the required 6 runs, taking the Blues to safety with all 10 wickets intact.
The lower order pair of Aaron O’Brien and Chris Duval played reasonably well as the South Australia Redbacks were able to avoid an innings defeat, following their substandard first effort of 255 in reply to New South Wales daunting
first innings, declared at 529 for 6.
The main cause of concern for the Redbacks was that their specialist batsmen failed to score, particularly given the comfort with which the right-arm medium fast bowler Duval logged his career-best innings of 87 runs on the morning
of the final day. Duval’s efforts were well supported by 29-year-old Aaron O'Brien with an unbeaten half century. Both the bowlers shared a 129 run stand for the 8th wicket as South Australia - once struggling at 131 for 7 - was able to muster 279
runs in its second innings.
Duval struck 15 boundaries, 13 fours and 2 sixes in a single-handed fight back. The impressive lower order batsman then became Usman Khawaja’s maiden first class victim, edging to Peter Forrest, waiting at the slips. Khawaja earlier
blazed away with the bat in New South Wales’ first innings, recording a smashing double century. The last two wickets for the Redbacks were picked up by Blue’s captain Stuart Clark, who finished with 3 for 26, leaving Aaron O'Brien not out on 57.
The match will leave the Redbacks thinking about some of their off-season hiring after their imported combination of Rob Cassell and Ben Edmondson took combined figures of 1-190 in the game. In contrast, the Blues will be pleased with the efforts of three
of their home-grown newcomers, including centurions Nic Maddinson and Usman Khawaja, along with left-arm orthodox spinner Steve O'Keefe, who took 7 victims in the match.
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