Blues put bite on Redbacks

Phil Jaques has further bolstered his chances at national selection after blasting his highest ING Cup score to guide New South Wales to a convincing 73-run one-day victory against South Australia in Adelaide tonight.

The in-form left-handed opener knocked up a near faultless 158 in only 141 balls as he impressively guided the Blues to a sizable total of 4-282 after staggering earlier on.

South Australia made a horror start to the chase, falling to 3-16, and despite a mid-order fight back by Mark Cosgrove (76) and Darren Lehmann (43), they were eventually dismissed for 209 in the 44th over, and conceded the bonus point.

Stuart Clark ripped through Redbacks' top order in claiming 4-36, while Michael Clarke snagged 3-27 from eight overs and Doug Bollinger 2-37 from 10.

New South Wales maintain their hold at the peak of the ING Cup ladder with four wins and a no-result from six matches, while South Australia remain in third position with 12 points, one behind second-placed Victoria.

Both teams were forced to make late changes – Shane Deitz replaced Greg Blewett for the Redbacks, who pulled out with a back injury, while the Blues saw Stephen O'Keefe come in for Stuart MacGill, who succumbed to an ankle strain.

Chasing a victory target of 283, South Australia commenced their riposte in a miserable fashion, losing Shane Deitz (2), Graham Manou (6) and Matthew Elliott (0) inside six overs.

With Clark doing the damage with two wickets, it was nearly made worse for the home side when Mark Cosgrove was dropped at backward square leg by super-sub Stephen O'Keefe when on 18.

Callum Ferguson (23) looked positive at the crease in an attacking cameo, which included a six over square leg, but skied Clark to keeper Haddin to reduce the Redbacks to 4-52.

Cosgrove and Lehmann formed a vital 108-run partnership, albeit riddled with several audacious strokes, to hoist South Australia beyond 100 with no further wickets lost, while keeping the run rate required at arm's length.

However, when Cosgrove was trapped LBW for 73 to Clarke, followed next over by Lehmann for 43 in similar fashion to Bollinger, the Redbacks' aspirations of winning slashed significantly as they fell to 6-161 in the 32nd over.

Cam Borgas (19), Jason Gillespie (15) and Mark Cleary (11) made small additions to the total, but the Blues ensured they would walk away with a bonus point after taking 3-1 to dismiss South Australia for 209 after 43.3 overs.

Earlier in the day, after New South Wales won the toss and batted first, it was South Australia reaping the initial rewards on a greenish pitch – Simon Katich (9) top-edging an attempted hook shot, only finding the safe hands of Darren Lehmann at mid-wicket.

From 1-19, Phil Jaques and Corey Richards failed to set the world on fire with their stroke-play, but denied the Redbacks' bowlers any genuine chances.

After Richards (24) hit two successive boundaries off Mark Cleary, the South Australian had the last laugh – beautifully cutting a ball back from outside off to peg back Richards' off-stump.

Two for 77 soon became 3-89 in the 21st over when Michael Clarke was trapped LBW to Cleary for a golden duck.

Opener Jaques continued to deny the South Australian attack, bringing up his 50 in only 60 deliveries courtesy of a superbly angled cut-shot over deep square leg off Paul Rofe for six.

Rofe bowled his allotted 10 overs in succession, taking 1-43 after conceding 13 runs in his final over, before being replaced by super-sub Gary Putland.

After a cataclysmic mix-up, Brad Haddin (9) found himself mid-pitch attempting a second run, subsequently ran out at 4-111 after a superb pick-up-and-throw by Callum Ferguson coming in from deep square leg.

Dominic Thornely coupled with Jaques, who brought up a faultless ton in 111 balls, as the pair propelled New South Wales beyond 200 without any further wickets lost.

Thornely brought up his half-century in 62 deliveries, after taking 20 runs off one Dan Cullen over – including three towering sixes down the ground.

The Blues added a mammoth 112 runs in the final 10 overs to hoist themselves to a more-than-competitive 4-282, with Jaques (158no from 141 balls) and Thornely (76no from 74) remaining unbeaten in the end after their 171-run 137-ball partnership.

After Rofe (1-43) and Lehmann (0-34) bowled superbly in their 10-over opening and mid-innings spells, Cleary (2-73 from 10), Gillespie (0-56 from 10) and Cullen (0-60 from nine) struggled to find a consistent line and length to counter the aggressive New South Wales batsmen.

The Blues' next one-day assignment sees them taking on Victoria on January 14 at Coffs Harbour, while South Australia take on Tasmania in Adelaide that same day.

Full scorecard available here.

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