Warner returns in stunning style as Blues stroll to victory

David Warner might have regretted his return to Test cricket while still inconvenienced by a groin injury earlier this summer, but it was South Australia who felt the pain as the veteran opener came back to top-level cricket in typically dominant fashion.

Warner's 87 from 74 deliveries underpinned New South Wales' comfortable chase of South Australia's modest total of 205, which they reached for the loss of four wickets with more than 20 overs to spare.

It means Blues' skipper Pat Cummins kept intact his perfect captaincy record with his team atop the Marsh One Day Cup ladder.

While Warner was the pre-eminent batting figure in NSW's chase, he did not have to push himself to the edge with his running between wickets and instead relied on crisp timing and brute strength in clubbing 13 fours and a sweet six over square leg.

The 34-year-old was the senior partner in stands with Moises Henriques (27 from 32 balls), Kurtis Patterson (20 from 19) and Ollie Davies (40 not out from 30) and seemed set for a comeback century until he miscued an attempted pull and holed out to mid-on.

By that stage, the game was in NSW's keeping and the Redbacks' loss that consigns them to the foot of the Marsh One Day Cup ladder was compounded by the sight of Alex Carey falling a solitary run short of his first domestic one-day century.

It had been more than eight years since SA had last played a domestic one-dayer at Adelaide Oval, with the previous fixture also between the same two teams in which Carey made his Redbacks debut as a specialist number three batter as the Blues triumphed by 18 runs.

His expertise against the near-new ball was required again today when he found himself in the middle before five overs had been bowled, and despite notching his highest domestic one-day score (previously 92 against Victoria at Hobart in 2017) he fell agonisingly short.

In some ways; it was a thumbnail sketch of SA's day, as they were strangled by NSW's bowlers and then summarily dispatched by Warner who barely missed a beat in his first limited-overs since suffering the painful groin injury in a fielding mishap during an ODI against India at the SCG.

The only sign of his lingering groin injury came when Warner chased a ball to the extra cover boundary late in SA's batting innings and, after executing a rolling dive that saved two runs, he appeared to be slightly limping shortly after.

But there was no impact on his batting form, that was not as brutally dominant as the left-hander is famed for but reflected the under-par target that required a controlled rather than cavalier pursuit.

The left-hander, who admitted earlier this week he had erred by returning to international cricket for the final two Tests while still battling to overcome the serious groin tear, reached his first half-century since last November from 46 balls with a boundary from rookie leg spinner Peter Hatzoglou.

It added insult to injury for Hatzoglou, who believed he had the Australia opener lbw from the second delivery he bowled and then turfed a skied chance at third man from the bowling of Wes Agar when Warner was 44 and NSW 2-103 in the 16th over.

It was the second costly miss of SA's bowling effort that became increasingly ragged, after Henriques was dropped at slip by Callum Ferguson off left-arm quick Spencer Johnson before he had scored.

The Blues had stormed to the top of the Marsh Cup ladder after their convincing 59-run win over Victoria opening round, a victory founded on Steve Smith's century and Cummins' double of three wickets and an unbeaten 49.

Smith was absent from today's game, and will also miss the subsequent Marsh Sheffield Shield game against the Redbacks starting on Saturday, due to an elbow injury.

But with the former Test skipper to return along with fast bowlers Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood – both of whom will take part in the upcoming Shield game – the Blues loom as favourites for the domestic one-day crown.

The Redbacks' innings never truly recovered from their dire start, when they lost openers Jake Weatherald (6) and Harry Nielsen (5) in the space of five deliveries to have them teetering at 2-11 in the fourth over.

The loss of Nielsen – who leaned back on a square cut that was smartly intercepted by Sean Abbott at gully – was keenly felt given he had posted his maiden domestic one-day century in SA's high-scoring loss to WA last Tuesday.

It meant the responsibility for taking their team to a competitive total fell to in-form skipper Travis Head – who also crunched a hundred in Perth on top of his double-century in the preceding Marsh Sheffield Shield game – and Carey.

For a while, it seemed the pair might be able to right the listing ship and provide the foundation for a charge in the final 10 overs, as they melded solid defence with occasional flourishes such as Carey's reverse sweeps against Test spinner Nathan Lyon to add 67 off 75 balls.

Head had proved the more ponderous partner in the early stages of the pair's union, and underwent a mandatory concussion test after being struck on the protective helmet by a skidding bounceer from left-arm quick Ben Dwarshuis.

But Head signalled his intention to up the tempo when he advanced to Lyon and clubbed him over mid-wicket and on to the concourse in front of the Chappell Stand.

Two balls later, SA's batting mainstay was on his way for 29 (off 34 deliveries) when he aimed a foot-planted drive at Abbott that proved as costly as it was ambitious.

The Redbacks' ploy of utilising veterans Callum Ferguson and Tom Cooper in the middle-order for the very circumstance they confronted today – buttress an innings in early trouble – failed to bear fruit when Ferguson (14) was caught at slip and Cooper (7) was caught agonisingly short after being called for a quick single by Carey.

At 5-119 with more than 20 overs to bat, Carey was caught between needing to force the pace and the knowledge he was SA's last recognised batter.

The former ODI vice-captain combined some sweet striking with clever placement as he found support from rookie all-rounder Corey Kelly (27 from 44 balls) who almost sacrificed his own wicket in the quest to get his senior teammate to a deserved ton.

On 99, Carey bunted a ball from Liam Hatcher back to the bowler and Kelly hared off from the non-striker's end as is fired from a gun and was only spared because Hatcher's throw at the unguarded stumps flew wide.

It's unlikely to have rattled the unflappable Carey, but next delivery he looked to nudge Hatcher to the off-side for the run to reach his maiden century but feathered a catch to keeper Matthew Gilkes and struggled to hide his annoyance as he left the field to warm applause.

His dismissal in the 43rd over realistically robbed SA of a handy 20 or 30 additional runs in the final overs, as the last four wickets fell for 14, but even then it would not have been sufficient to score the imposing Blues' batting line-up.

Unless, of course, the Redbacks' bowlers tore through their rivals top-order in the same manner NSW had done to them.

Wes Agar looked the most likely to fill that role as he beat Warner's bat several times and had Gilkes snared at second slip in the fourth over, but a combination of too few runs and too many squandered opportunities meant NSW found few problems strolling to their second win from as many starts.