Head falls late but SA take day one honours over NSW

Travis Head fell late on day one of South Australia's Sheffield Shield clash with New South Wales but the hosts still hold the advantage thanks to a maiden five-wicket haul for fast bowler Henry Thornton.

Opening the batting in the competition for the first time this season, Head (5) was dismissed by fellow Australian T20 World Cup squad member Sean Abbott (1-8) in some late drama at Karen Rolton Oval.

The Australian Test opener copped a blow to the finger from Liam Hatcher (0-12) in the over prior to his dismissal before Abbott found the edge of Head's bat with the first ball he bowled to him.

Lachlan Shaw snaffled the catch at second slip to give the visitors a much-needed breakthrough, as SA ended day one at 1-20 in reply to NSW's 269.

Returning to Shield cricket for the first time since November, Thornton (5-71) was the star of the show for SA, taking wickets in every session to help his side gain the ascendancy in Adelaide.

Earlier in the day, SA won the toss and elected to field before taking four wickets in the first session of play.

In an eventful start to the day, Sam Konstas (37) was dropped by SA skipper Nathan McSweeney at third slip off the fourth ball of the innings.

The 20-year-old and Will Salzmann (6) put on 19 runs for the first wicket, before Jordan Buckingham (1-74) bowled Salzmann with a ball that nipped back sharply and rattled his stumps.

Coming off three hundreds in his past four matches, Kurtis Patterson (12) looked in ominous touch as he hit his first ball to the rope. But the left-hander was soon caught by Ben Manenti at second slip to give Thornton his first scalp.

Four balls later, Shaw (4) found Henry Hunt at point off Liam Scott (1-29) as NSW slipped to 3-72.

Nathan McAndrew (2-55) was back with immediate success as Konstas feathered the first delivery of his second spell through to wicketkeeper Alex Carey.

Matthew Gilkes (24) and Josh Philippe (29) took NSW lunch at 4-98. The Blues' wicketkeeper pushed on after lunch, until Thornton found a way through his defence.

McAndrew then made it 6-126 when he bowled a brutal bouncer that was too quick for Gilkes. The left-hander couldn’t evade McAndrew's short ball that hit his gloves and spooned up to Manenti.

Buckingham should have picked up the wicket of Charlie Stobo (25) when Manenti put him down at 6-158.

Together with Joel Davies (47), the two produced a vital 63-run partnership to help resuscitate New South Wales’ innings, before Thornton struck to have Stobo trapped in front with the last ball of the session.

Shortly after the break, Davies became Thornton’s fourth victim when his attempted pull shot caught the top edge of his bat and landed in Carey’s gloves.

Abbott (40) and Hatcher (23) pushed NSW above 250. The pacemen frustrated South Australia through their resistance with the bat. SA turned to spin and Manenti broke the 45-run stand when he bowled Hatcher.

Farming the strike, Abbott proved difficult to dismiss for the hosts, but Thornton got his man as NSW were bowled out for 269.

Just as he did in SA’s previous Shield game, McAndrew (9*) was used as a nightwatch by the hosts after Abbott claimed the key wicket of Head.

Alongside Henry Hunt (3*), the two guided South Australia to stumps.

Sheffield Shield 2025-26 standings

Team	Matches played M	Wins W	Losses L	Drawn D	No results N/R	Deductions Ded.	Batting Bonus Bat	Bowling Bonus Bowl	Total points PTS
1 Victoria Men VIC	8	6	2	0	0	0	7.46	7.3	50.76
2 Queensland Bulls QLD	8	3	3	2	0	0	8.18	6.2	34.38
3 South Australia Men SA	8	3	2	3	0	0	4.83	7.6	33.43
4 Tasmanian Tigers Men TAS	8	3	3	2	0	2	3.73	6.5	28.23
5 NSW Men NSW	8	2	3	3	0	0	5.93	6.9	27.83
6 Western Australia Men WA	8	1	5	2	0	0	1.99	7.2	17.19

Legend

M: Matches played

W: Wins

L: Losses

D: Drawn

N/R: No results

Ded.: Deductions

Bat: Batting Bonus

Bowl: Bowling Bonus

PTS: Total points