Aggressive SA won't play for draw: Siddons

South Australia have vowed to continue their aggressive approach in this weekend's Sheffield Shield final instead of playing for a draw that would secure them a long-awaited 14th title.

Having finished top of the table, the Redbacks need only a draw in the five-day match against Victoria in Adelaide starting on Saturday to secure their first Shield title since they drew the 1995-96 final against Western Australia.

Coach Jamie Siddons, who captained SA in that triumphant campaign 20 years ago, says he won't be instructing his side to play defensively in order to secure the crown of Shield champions.

SA stormed into the season decider thanks to a stunning win over Tasmania last week, with victory secured inside two days to catapult them from fourth to first on the table after none of the three teams above them managed to secure a win.

The extraordinary last round of the season has not only earned the Redbacks home ground advantage, albeit at their home-away-from home Gliderol Stadium in the beachside suburb of Glenelg, but it also gave them the security of knowing that they only needed to avoid defeat in the final to win the title.

Since the concept of a Sheffield Shield final was introduced in 1982-83, nine of the 32 deciders have been drawn, including the past three.

While Siddons conceded he expected the surface at Gliderol Stadium to be more batsman friendly than the one they encountered against the Tigers last week, when 30 wickets fell in 174.1 overs, a rate of one every six overs, he dismissed the idea that his players had their eyes on anything but a victory.

"We'll play the way we've played all year and that means we'll score quite quickly and hopefully we won't lose wickets in clumps like we have all year," he said.

"We're pretty confident that we can put a good score on the board and give ourselves a chance of winning the game.

"I seriously don't think it'll be a drawn game."

The Redbacks have been involved in some thrilling encounters during the season, including two incredible one-wicket victories over Western Australia, and have played some attacking cricket throughout.

Leading the charge with the bat have been captain Travis Head and left-hander Jake Lehmann, their two leading run-scorers for the season, who have scored more than 1300 runs between them at a combined strike-rate of 79 runs per 100 balls.

That puts them in the top three strike-rates among all batsmen to have scored more than 200 runs for the season (Victoria's Glenn Maxwell leads the way with 392 runs at a strike-rate of 85), and Siddons says the fearless approach of his batsmen has been exciting to watch.

Of the seven occasions a SA player has posted a century this season (three each from Head and Lehmann and one from Callum Ferguson), three have involved a batsman finishing their innings with a strike-rate of more than 95.

The 'slowest' of the seven was Ferguson's magnificent 213 from 295 balls against Tasmania in November, made at a strike-rate of 72.20.

It's a statistic that underlines the threat of the Redbacks middle order, and there was no better example of a match turning on the back of that aggression than Head's magnificent 192 from just 176 balls against Tasmania last week, in a match where only 614 runs were scored in total.

But the Redbacks' preparedness to be bold with the bat has cut both ways; Siddons' side have been bowled out for less than 200 six times this season, the equal most in the competition along with bottom-placed Tasmania.

But on the back of unheralded pace trio Joe Mennie, Daniel Worrall and Chadd Sayers – who have taken 117 wickets between them – the Redbacks have dismissed their opponents for less than 200 on six occasions themselves to charge into the final. 

"I've got no doubts about our bowling attack – they'll go well," Siddons said. "I'm really confident about our batting this week. The way they're hitting the ball, they're about to explode, and what a great time to do it.

"The top order has got through the new ball all year.

"(Opener Mark Cosgrove) has got through the new ball and made thirties all year. If he can turn that into a hundred like's done in the past, he's won Shields before.

"I'm really confident about our top order and our middle order of Head and Lehmann have all made big hundreds.

"I'm looking forward to it. I think we're ready to go really big."