New South Wales has beaten South Australia by an innings and one run in their clash at Karen Rolton Oval.
A defiant second innings hundred to Jake Lehmann and half century to Thomas Kelly weren’t enough for South Australia to force the visitors to bat again, as Jackson Bird picked up 11 wickets for the game to claim player of the match honours.
Winning the toss and batting first, South Australia struggled to get going on a wicket that was offering plenty of seam movement and bounce.
Henry Hunt (30) and Lehmann (25) showed some resistance, but Bird was at his vintage best, taking 7-46 from his 15 overs.
New South Wales fought hard to see off the new ball, and continued to build their innings, with Nic Maddinson (69), Kurtis Patterson (71), Oliver Davies (56) and Matthew Gilkes (55) all registering half centuries.
Nathan McAndrew (4-90 from 31 overs), Brendan Doggett (3-90 from 30) and Harry Conway (2-69 from 23) all toiled hard for the home side, but NSW took a 284-run advantage into the second innings.
Lehmann’s second innings hundred consisted of 14 boundaries, as he and Kelly put on 115 runs for the fifth wicket.
But when they were both dismissed, it was tough for South Australia to salvage anything from the game.
Harry Nielsen and skipper Ben Manenti both looked comfortable at times, but opposing captain Jack Edwards did the damage with the second new ball, and fittingly it was Bird who took the final wicket of the match.
South Australia currently sits second on the table, with a clash against top-of-the-table Western Australia beginning at Adelaide Oval on Saturday 23 November.