Hazlewood rips through Redbacks on final day of Sheffield Shield clash at Adelaide Oval
A gutsy eighth-wicket stand between Tom Cooper and Chadd Sayers wasn’t enough as SA succumbed to a Josh Hazlewood-led NSW by 96 runs in their Sheffield Shield clash at Adelaide Oval.
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Josh Hazlewood revved up for the first Test with a compelling first-class return as New South Wales overcame more Chadd Sayers heroics to continue South Australia’s misery in Adelaide.
Hazlewood’s Sheffield Shield best 6/35 sabotaged the Redbacks’ shot at reaching a 298 target to end its winless run stretching back to February last year against the Blues in Sydney.
A feisty 94-run, eighth-wicket stand between the prolific Tom Cooper (77) and Sayers (47) pushed the contest into a third session, but couldn’t avert a 96-run loss.
Hazlewood removed Sayers, then bowled Luke Robins to seal victory.
Former Test paceman Sayers went down fighting – falling three runs short of becoming the first Redback since Joe Scuderi, in December 1991 against the Blues, to record a 10-wicket match haul and half-century.
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Seamer Trent Copeland (3/50) eventually bowled Cooper, who has a competition high 467 runs at 116 - of which an unbeaten 270 came during the Junction Oval runfest against Victoria in October.
Hazlewood, who hadn’t fronted in a first-class match since Australia’s fifth Test loss to England at The Oval, pressured the Redbacks with relentless pace and accuracy.
He gave national selectors everything they wanted to see and more as he prepares to share the new ball with Pat Cummins at the Gabba.
Hazlewood’s second innings demolition of the Redbacks followed 20 wickets at 21.8 in four Tests against England.
The right-arm quick removed Jake Weatherald (0) with the first ball of SA’s second innings then fellow opener Henry Hunt (6) with an attempted pull that flew to keeper Peter Nevill.
Veteran Callum Ferguson (25) and Cooper held up the visitors in a 40-run, fifth-wicket stand before the No. 3 became Hazlewood’s third victim.
Keeper-batsman Harry Nielsen (0) then offered counterpart Peter Nevill his third of four catches for the innings.
Skipper Travis Head (29) had watched Australian off-spinner Nathan Lyon like a hawk in posting a gritty first innings ton (109), but was seduced into a drive that edged wide to Copeland at first slip.
Head will now travel to Perth for Australia’s A clash with Pakistan starting Monday week requiring another convincing knock to secure a first Test recall at The Gabba.
The dashing left-hander will contest Will Pucovski and Nic Maddinson for a middle order slot against the tourists in the first Test, starting on November 21 in Brisbane.
The Redbacks will emulate a 17-game winless streak under Phil Ridings between February 1949 and February 1951 - the sixth longest in Sheffield Shield history - without success against Tasmania in Adelaide next week.
