Redbacks best performances of 2015/16

As we take a look back at some of the season-defining performances, we ask the fans which knock/haul ranked as the most impressive this summer.

Stepping to the crease in the second match of the Matador Cup against the Queensland Bulls with his side in trouble at 5/132, Alex Ross set the foundation for what would become a breakout 2015/16 season with a brilliant match-winning knock.

Scoring a composed 88 off 87 deliveries – including a spectacular six and three fours in the final over– the young right-hander delivered the Redbacks an improbable win with one ball to spare, helping propel them into finals contention

Chasing 351 for the win against Western Australia in the Matador Cup season opener, the Redbacks were going to need something special to get their tournament off to the best possible start. And special was exactly what skipper Travis Head produced in his first limited-overs match as captain. 

Smashing a stunning 202 off 120 balls, Head obliterated the WA attack with 32 boundaries (including 12 sixes) to help South Australia reel in the target with 21 balls and six wickets remaining.  

Having been selected in Australia’s Test squad to tour New Zealand but not play, it might be fair to say Redbacks paceman Chadd Sayers had some residual frustration built up heading into South Australia’s match against Tasmania.

The result was a career-best ten wicket haul against the Tigers down at Gliderol Stadium as the swing specialist tore through Tasmania’s batting line-up to set up an innings victory for the Redbacks and propel them into the Shield Final.   

An incredible fourth-wicket partnership between Jake Lehmann and Callum Ferguson saw a long-standing record tumble in the Redbacks’ fourth match of the season against the Tasmanian Tigers, the pair piling on an incredible 378 runs as both batsman recorded spectacular double centuries. 

For Lehmann, the knock was especially significant –the partnership surpassing a record belonging to his father Darren and James Brayshaw, as well as making him just the third player in SA history to record a double-hundred for his maiden first-class century.

Any match in which you score 192 off 176 deliveries and miss out on man-of-the-match honours might seem stiff, but there was no denying the importance of Trav’s third first-class century in the final regular-season match of the season.

Needing maximum bonus points to retain any hope of making the Shield Final, the Redbacks obliged through Head’s incredible ton and Sayers’ ten-wicket haul, performances which saw them leapfrog from fourth to first in the final round.