Smith pulls the strings to stamp his authority

From the opening delivery of the day, Steve Smith made it abundantly clear his New South Wales Blues had extracted the match practice required from their pink ball encounter with South Australia, and the time had come to pocket the points and move hastily on.

Kane Richardson, Smith's teammate in eight one-day internationals for their country and the Redbacks' most imposing bowler, resumed an attack that had been rendered impotent by a 160-run second-wicket partnership between the Australia captain and ex-Test opener Ed Cowan the previous evening.

Prior to the resumption on day three of a match the star-studded Blues had started uncertainly before ever-more-tightly squeezing from it the last vestiges of life, conspiratorial whispers arose that the visitors might settle in for a session or two of batting practice on the pristine Adelaide Oval.

That Australia's new ‘keeper Peter Nevill might want to add to the 52 deliveries he faced in his scratchy Wednesday innings of 11 ahead of the inaugural day-night Test that begins at the same venue in a month.

That Nathan Lyon could be shunted up to his not-altogether unaccustomed spot in the top order to have a closer look at the pink ball in a batting capacity.

That the 359-run lead the Blues took into day three might need to be extended closer to 500. Possibly 700.

But by the time Richardson's first ball had hit the hard, lightly grassed Adelaide pitch, Smith had already walked some distance outside his off stump.

And as it jagged away further from the batsman along a trajectory that orthodoxy would dictate is ‘leave alone' territory for a right hander, Smith wound up like a baseball slugger and belted it into the third row of vacant seats beyond the mid-wicket fence.

WATCH: Smith starts day three in style

Perhaps it was the naming of the squad that he will lead into the summer's opening Commonwealth Bank Test against the Black Caps next week, and which had been publicly unveiled in the hours earlier.

Or maybe the breaking news that the New Zealanders had opted out of their scheduled warm-up match against a Cricket Australia XI and were looking to relocate in Brisbane to complete their Test preparation in more 'Gabba-like surrounds.

More likely it was the same innate match sense that Smith showed with his cannily-timed declaration on Wednesday evening that irreversibly swung the match's momentum, this time telling him that a flagging, flogged SA were ripe for the plucking.

Whatever the cue, Smith spent half an hour pulling out more trick shots than a Glenn Maxwell net session as he and Cowan – who moved far more conventionally to his first Shield century in his second coming as a Blues batsman – piled on 74 runs off seven hapless overs.

At which point Smith curtailed his team's innings for the second time in three days, and then sprinted from the field with an urgency that suggested a keenness to catch the next available flight to Brisbane lest Brendon McCullum and his men steal a head start for the coming Test.

But unlike the Black Caps, who volubly expressed their concerns about the quality of practice they were afforded by the pitch at Blacktown, it's unlikely Smith could have scripted a more seamless preparation for the six Test players in the Blues line-up, even if it was with a lustrous, heavily lacquered pink ball rather than the traditional red Test match variety.

Smith himself limbered up for the heavy burden he will carry as the keystone of a revamped Test top-order with a match aggregate (and average) of 219.

His vice-captain David Warner proved beyond doubt that he will be fit for the 'Gabba in his first competitive outing since fracturing his left thumb in England, not just by top-scoring in NSW's first innings with 77, but also plucking a brilliant catch at third slip to end SA's first innings yesterday.

Warner also successfully dealt with a chorus of well-lubricated fans who had singled him out for special treatment until security staff intervened, at the request of the visiting skipper.

Nevill kept tidily under daylight and spotlights, both to the pace and bounce of new-ball bowlers Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood who beat the edge even more regularly than they rattled the stumps, as well as the spinners Lyon and Steve O'Keefe.

Starc's transition from white ball to pink – finishing with remarkable match figures of 8-100 – provided reassurance that he will be similarly unfazed switching from pink to red next week, although that comfort won't extend to the Black Caps batsmen, who doubtless still have visions of his decisive opening spell in the ICC World Cup Final last March.

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Mitchell Starc tuned up for the first Test of the summer with eight wickets // Getty

Hazlewood, man of the match when NSW demolished the Redbacks in final of the Matador BBQs One-Day Cup less than a week ago, bowled with pace and aggression that was absent during the unsuccessful Ashes campaign and enhanced expectations he will replace Peter Siddle in the Test XI for Brisbane.

Of greater moment was his nagging, back-of-a-length control that went missing in the UK where he flirted with becoming a swing bowler with his return to type underscored by his second innings figures of 3-22 from 15 overs.

And not only did Lyon find good shape and rhythm with his off-spin which could prove a decisive point of difference at the ‘Gabba where he has found success in recent years, he enjoyed the mat of tufty grass on an Adelaide Oval pitch that was markedly different to the ones he used to prepare.

Which means he will be looking forward to his upcoming visit to his former home ground for the day-night fixture next month, given his one-time boss and curator Damian Hough has indicated the grass cover will also be a feature of the Test strip to help the pink ball better endure an 80-over workload.

"I thought the wicket was fantastic, it wasn't a typical Adelaide Oval where it's abrasive, it had a lot more grass on it and I think it suits pink ball cricket quite well," Lyon said after NSW had wrapped up their 215-run win.

Quick Single: Starc bowls Blues to big victory

"I think it served everyone well, there was a little bit in there early for the seam bowlers but then Smithy and Bull (Warner) and Ed (Cowan) showed that if you get in you can go on and score runs.

"For me, there was some good bounce and some spin so I was pretty happy bowling out there."

Sadly, there was no similar cause for good cheer among the Redbacks who started the game with a spring in their step and finished it just short of the scheduled end of the penultimate day with a stone in their shoe.

And a hefty confidence repair job ahead of next week's meeting with Sheffield Shield finalist for the past two summers, Western Australia.

If there was to be a fleeting moment of brightness beneath the high-luxe lighting it was today's innings by their best batsman Callum Ferguson, who stood firm as wickets cascaded about him to finish desperately close to a deserved century as last man dismissed for 96.

Early in his knock, Ferguson was struck a frightening blow to the side of his helmet when he failed to negotiate a searing bouncer from Starc that struck the protective lid with such force it knocked off the protective neck guards that clip on to the helmet's base.

WATCH: Ferguson cops fearful blow from Starc

And which were deemed mandatory following the death of former Test batsman Phillip Hughes who was struck while batting in the corresponding Shield match between the teams almost a year ago.

The force of the blow brought an understandably worried response from the entire NSW team, and while the South Australian appeared shaken but unhurt a number of the Blues players were seen consoling one another before the same resumed some minutes later.

"The helmet held up well," Ferguson said at day's end.

"It was a good one from Starcy.

"We've obviously seen a few bad ones between our sides so they (the NSW players) were really good. You get all the right checks from the doctors, and I was feeling all right after that."