Bulls miss mark in tough day at crease
A LONE ranger is Queensland’s best hope of salvaging a result in Cairns after South Australia turned the screws on day two of the Sheffield Shield match at Cazalys.
Joe Burns looked masterful on his way to 67 not out to lead the Bulls to 4-123 at stumps, leaving a mountain to climb to catch South Australia’s first innings total of 485.
The chase could not have started any worse with Matthew Renshaw dismissed for four (LBW) after failing to hit a swinging Chadd Sayers’ delivery in the third over. The axed Test opener has now scored just 99 runs in his last nine Shield innings.
Queensland skipper Jimmy Peirson said his top four should have rallied around the former Test opener, instead falling to South Australia’s swing and spin clinic.
“It’s understandable that we’ve fielded for a long time but these are the conditions, this is our backyard, we need to be better,” he said.
“Burnsy put his hand up and did our heavy lifting but none of the top four really stayed with him. That’s disappointing, especially on a wicket like this, because if you get in, you can go quite big.
“We need to get together some big partnerships, some big scores to two or three of our boys and get ourselves back in this contest.”
Peirson was left wondering what could have been coming into the day with the Redbacks teetering at 8-328 before Alex Carey (139) and Chadd Sayers (46) punished the Bulls’ attack on a flat, dry wicket. But he said his bowlers were powerless to stop the gloveman bringing up his maiden first-class century, the second Redbacks ton after Travis Head’s 132 on day one.
Carey, who started the day 39 not out, hatched a plan with roommate Sayers the previous night to all but take Queensland out of the game.
“It was a fantastic feeling to bring that up with a good mate STRUGGLE OF THE DAY As he did on Day 1, leg spinner Mitchell Swepson once again struggled in the opening sessions. He was hooked after bowling three full tosses in one over, looking at his hands after the third as he struggled to grip the ball. CALL OF THE DAY “Can you declare?” SA ticked over the score nicely in the first session but patrons wanted the Bulls in, sparking a crowd request. They waited another hour. EFFORT OF THE DAY Kids from Balaclava State School received a visit from Brisbane Heat mascot ‘Heater’ when they took the field at lunch. We can reveal new CFN trainee Jake Staska was the man inside. It must have been 1000 degrees in there. SHOT OF THE DAY Queensland made a shaky start but Joe Burns looked calm at the crease. While some question his spin ability, his massive swing of the bat to send Adam Zampa for 6 was impressive. of mine, Chadd Sayers … hopefully there’s a few more to come,” he said. “That’s a pretty good day for us. We would have liked those runs to come from the top order, you always do, but for us to fight to 480 and have them 4-120, again if we can do some damage early, you can see what can happen out there when two batsmen get together.”
Things could yet get tougher for the Bulls with Carey predicting the dry surface to favour reverse swing to aid an already deadly Redbacks attack. Bulls leg spinner Marnus Labuschagne, who took the wicket of Carey, finished the Redbacks off in the middle session yesterday, ending with career-best figures of 3-85.
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South Australia 1st innings resuming at 8-328 A CAREY c Renshaw b Labuschagne ................................................. 139 C SAYERS c Burns b Labuschagne ................................................... 46 D GRANT not out ........................... 8 Extras (6b, 3lb, 2w, 2nb) ............ 13 Total .......................................... 485 Overs 137.4 Bowling: M Steketee 16-6-0-55, C Gannon 22-9-1-48, M Swepson 36-4-5-142, N Rimmington 15-30-39, J Wildermuth 12-1-0-32, M Labuschagne 19.4-1-3-85, C Hemphrey 17-2-1-75 Queensland 1st innings M RENSHAW lbw Sayers ................ 4 J BURNS not out .......................... 67 M LABUSCHAGNE c Sayers b Grant ...................................................... 6 C HEMPHREY lbw Zampa ............. 24 S HEAZLETT c Ferguson b Mennie .................................................... 10 J WILDERMUTH not out ............... 10 Extras (0b, 0lb, 1w, 1nb) .............. 2 Total 4-123 Overs 48 Bowling: C Sayers 10-2-1-30, J Mennie 9-2-1-27, D Grant 8-4-1-6, A Zampa 18-3-1-53, T Head 3-00-7
Late call a welcome surprise