A three-wicket haul from Mitchell Johnson fired Western Australia to their first Bupa Sheffield Shield victory of the season, as South Australia were beaten by 110 runs at the WACA on Thursday.
Resuming at 1-32 on day four, the Redbacks required a further 323 runs for victory, but despite a defiant unbeaten 95 from Travis Head and a gritty knock of 56 from Michael Klinger, they rarely threatened to run their target of 355 down and were eventually dismissed for 244 with 22 overs left in the day.
And while Johnson's impressive 3-52 may not be enough to earn him a recall to the Test squad due to be named on Friday, the selectors will surely consider his claims to be part of the final match of the series due to be played at the WACA later this month.
Bowling with plenty of control and aggression, the 31-year-old was well supported by Michael Hogan (2-28) and in particular man-of-the-match Nathan Coulter-Nile (2-67), who added to the 52 vital runs he scored in WA's first innings by dislodging key men Phil Hughes and Klinger.
Nightwatchman Joe Mennie's brief tenure at the crease had ended in the third over of the day when he edged a rising delivery from Hogan to Mitch Marsh at second slip, but WA knew that Hughes was the prize wicket and they managed to bring the discarded Test opener undone with the SA total on 74.
Having looked as untroubled on his way to reaching 26 as he had in posting 92 in the first innings, the former NSW man attempted to cut a Coulter-Nile delivery through backward point, but only succeeded in cannoning the ball into his off stump.
Hogan then backed up a lively and miserly spell of 1-17 from 11 overs by running out Callum Ferguson for 14 and although South Australia's No.4 appeared less than happy with the decision, he was fortunate to still be at the crease having been dropped by Marsh in the slips off Coulter-Nile two overs earlier.
While Klinger remained in the middle, the Redbacks retained some hope of salvaging a draw or even claiming an against-the-odds victory, but having survived until midway through the second session, the 32-year-old nibbled at another probing delivery from Coulter-Nile and Tom Triffitt gleefully pouched his sixth catch of the game behind the stumps.
Klinger stopped to glare at the umpire before trudging off and he was quickly followed back to the sheds by Dan Christian (four) who was brilliantly caught at second slip by Adam Voges after flashing at a wide one from spinner Michael Beer.
At 6-168, the writing looked to be on the wall for the visitors, but led by Head and watchful skipper Johan Botha, they managed to move the score on to 203 at tea without sustaining any further losses.
Botha's first four runs came off 41 balls and he continued to frustrate the home side by occupying the crease for more than 90 minutes until Johnson was recalled to the attack and had him caught in the slips by Marsh for eight.
Tom Ludeman (zero) failed to mirror his skipper's dogged resilience, lasting only 11 balls before having his stumps comprehensively dismantled by a Hogan Yorker, and neither Sayers (zero) nor Jake Haberfield (one) did much more to delay the inevitable, leaving the impressive Head cruelly stranded five runs short of his century.
First Posted 15 November, 2012 8:23PM AEST
