Victorian Peter Handscomb puts SA Redbacks to the sword to stake Test claim
VICTORIAN captain Peter Handscomb put his hand up for a Test recall with a timely century as South Australia’s frustrating start to the season continued at the MCG on Sunday.
VICTORIAN captain Peter Handscomb put his hand up for a Test recall with a timely century as South Australia’s frustrating start to the season continued at the MCG on Sunday.
Handscomb, who hasn’t played a Test match since April after a run of poor form and having his unorthodox technique questioned, scored a fighting 123 not out from 215 deliveries as top-of-the-table Victoria took control of the Sheffield Shield clash.
His innings gave Victoria a decisive 101-run lead at stumps, with three wickets remaining and two days left, after left-arm seamer Nick Winter dragged the Redbacks back into the contest with three quick wickets as the hosts stumbled from 0/132 to 3/159.
Winter (3/81) captured the key wickets of Marcus Harris (65), Travis Dean (75) and Cameron White (0).
But Handscomb was unmoveable and despite getting little support from his teammates — former Test quick James Pattinson was his biggest ally with 32 — he carried his team to a position of strength.
As Australian wickets tumbled in the one-day international in Perth on Sunday, Handscomb notched his 14th first-class century to help the home side to a commanding 7/345 at stumps after SA’s first innings collapse saw it lose 6/13 to be dismissed for a disappointing 244.
“It is a commanding position for us,’’ said Handscomb, whose hundred has put him in the frame for a Test recall for the opening Test of the summer against India at Adelaide Oval next month.
It followed four consecutive half-centuries in the JLT One-Day Cup competition.
“I’ve felt like my movements have been really good, that I’m going forward and back to most of the right balls and have been able to score relatively freely,’’ Handscomb said of his form.
“So I feel comfortable and good with my game.’’
Handscomb spent the winter working closely with former Test opener Chris Rogers on his batting but said he had made only “a couple of very, very minute tweaks’’.
“It’s been more of a mindset thing for me, just going back to believing that my game is good enough,’’ he said.
“I had this technique for three years before playing for Australia and I made runs in all those three years and then I made runs with this technique as soon as I went in for Australia.
“Then I started tinkering with it and my form started to drop. So I've gone back to knowing what I do really well and backing in my strengths.’’
Redbacks captain Jake Lehmann, whose team drew its first two Shield games, praised Handscomb’s performance on a pitch with inconsistent bounce while ruing a couple of missed chances in the field.
“Victoria is obviously in the box seat but if we get a couple of early wickets on Monday you never know what can happen,’’ he said.
