Redbacks must dust off one-day cobwebs quickly against Blues after heavy defeat to Queensland
Redbacks batsman Tom Cooper says South Australia must quickly find winning formula against New South Wales in Brisbane after heavy loss in opening Marsh Cup fixture.
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Tom Cooper remains a flag-bearer for white-ball consistency but South Australia is scrambling to shake off the cobwebs following a resounding season-opening loss to Queensland in Brisbane.
An unconquered 114-run, fourth-wicket stand between former Australian batsman Joe Burns (65) and Matt Renshaw (52) steered the Bulls to a seven-wicket, bonus-point triumph at Allan Border Field. The Bulls (3-227) reached their target in 35.5 overs.
Cooper, with 62 off 75 balls, was the only Redback to manage a half-century in a sub-par 226 total off 48.5 overs. Opener Jake Weatherald (44) was set for a decisive knock before deceived by Renshaw’s off-spin.
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“I was in a little earlier than I would have liked. We made a habit of losing wickets which is not what you want,” said Cooper with 5315 one-day runs at 41.20.
“To get a few is always nice but it would have been nice if we posted a competitive total.
“I guess I love the format and done reasonably well over the years so it was nice to keep that on.”
Tearaway Billy Stanlake (3/38) was the pick of the Bulls’ attack claiming SA skipper Jake Lehmann (16), Alex Ross (13) and allrounder Cam Valente (3). Left-arm orthodox spinner Matthew Kuhnemann (3/39) delivered the key scalp of Australian keeper-batsman Alex Carey (29) which sparked a 7-95 Redbacks collapse.
“He and Kuhnemann cracked it open through the middle. They bowled quite well,” conceded Cooper.
“The positive thing is most of the boys showed glimpses of form. It was just disappointing to play some average shots.”
SA faces New South Wales on Thursday in Brisbane and doesn’t want to enter drought-breaking home fixtures starting Sunday against Tasmania with consecutive defeats.
“We don’t have long to dust off and go again. We have to try and put this one behind us. We had a good win against New South Wales in practice match a week ago so hopefully we can repeat,” Cooper said.
Cooper, 32, didn’t see his omission for the final two Sheffield Shield rounds last season coming but believes he has plenty to offer in an 11th domestic summer. Cooper hopes impressive one-day form will book a place in SA’s opening Shield clash against Victoria starting October 10 in Melbourne.
“It was a bit of a surprise, top run scorer at the time,” recalled Cooper. I just try and score runs and the rest takes care of itself you like to think,”
“The most important thing is to come out on Thursday and put in a good team performance.”