Brad Davis made a maiden first-class fifty but it was another poor batting display from South Australia
ESPNcricinfo staff22-Mar-2019
Chris Tremain in his delivery stride•Getty Images
Victoria were well on track to head into their home Sheffield Shield final with another victory under their belt after making strong progress towards a target of 167 against bottom-placed South Australia.The Redbacks continued their forgettable Shield season slipping to 4 for 39 in their second innings after Victoria earned a lead of 26. A battling display from the middle order avoided a complete collapse, but the last five wickets then fell for 26 as Chris Tremain finished with 4 for 34.By stumps, Victoria had motored to 0 for 69 with openers Marcus Harris and Travis Dean getting the required runs under a hundred.James Pattinson made the early inroads during a lively new-ball spell and had two wickets before he conceded a run when he removed Jake Weatherald and Kelvin Smith to leave South Australia 2 for 2.Tremain and Andrew Fekete chipped in and it appeared the Redbacks could be blown away but captain Travis Head provided resistance, while Brad Davis struck his maiden first-class fifty in a determined 137-ball occupation of the crease.Tremain returned to remove Head, who sent a leading edge back to the bowler, before Davis and Harry Nielsen added 64 for the sixth wicket to give hope of setting a competitive fourth-innings chase. However, Nielsen fell to the part-time spin of Matt Short then the rest of the innings was wrapped up by Tremain and Jon Holland.
