Big Head innings lifts Redbacks out of the mire

Travis Head shored up his place in Australia's middle order with the longest innings of his first-class career, stroking a defiant match-saving Marsh Sheffield Shield century on a wearing Karen Rolton Oval pitch on Thursday.

With Test captain Tim Paine watching on from behind the stumps Head batted an entire day for the first time in his career, scoring an unbeaten 171 to ensure his South Australian side escaped with a draw having been thoroughly outplayed by Tasmania across the first three days.

The Redbacks had begun day four two wickets down and still 205 runs away from making the visitors bat again, but Head dug in for 265 balls to ensure both sides remain winless after their opening two games of the season.

Play was called in the final session shortly after Head and Liam Scott (40 off 118) had seen SA reach 5-347 and achieved a nominal lead of 49 runs.

While Cameron Green staked his claim for a Test debut with a marathon 197 at nearby Gladys Elphick Park earlier in the day, Head's knock will go some way to ensuring it is not his spot that he takes if the young Western Australian is blooded against India.

It will be a welcome sight for national selectors and has set a high bar for batters hoping to gain Test inclusion. Incumbent Matthew Wade will take over captaincy duties from Paine when he returns next week, while hopefuls Will Pucovski and Usman Khawaja will have their chance when all six teams play in the third round beginning October 30.

"All I can control is playing well for South Australia and today I was able to contribute," said Head, whose previous longest first-class knock was his 234-ball Boxing Day ton against New Zealand last summer .

"I was just happy to play a role today and hopefully I can continue to do that if I play the first Test. If not then I'll keep trying to do what I'm doing at the moment.

"That's probably the longest I've been able to bat for. There is (a lot of pride), especially coming into the day a lot of people expecting that we'd probably get bowled out.

"But our dressing room was pretty confident if we put a lot of overs into their bowlers on a good wicket, we could bat the whole day."

Head had a nervous moment on 99 when Paine, along with the entire Tasmanian slips cordon, were convinced his airy waft at a Beau Webster medium pacer had caught the outside edge.

The smiling Head insisted it had not and umpire Gerard Abood agreed, leaving the Redbacks captain to bring up triple figures off the next delivery, kissing the SACA badge as he acknowledged applause for his 13th first-class ton.

It was Head's first century since his breakthrough Boxing Day hundred and comes after his run of 10 consecutive scores between 10 and 60 ended with his first-innings run-out for two.

Paine conceded his Test teammate played an "exceptional innings".

"It was probably the difference between us winning and not," Paine said of Head. "We just couldn't quite rid of Heady.

"I thought he handled it beautifully, particularly the ball spinning in at him all the time. So it's good signs from an Australian point of view.

"He's one of those guys, Heady, he always seems to be batting well. To see him go on and bat big, even in the manner he did it – he controlled the game, he batted with discipline.

"Sometimes Heady can give you a chance and that's what we were hanging onto (for hope) as a group, but today he just batted us out of winning the game."

Tasmania were also left to rue a pair of late opportunities off Head, on 140 and then 158, with the latter a regulation catch to Jackson Bird at slip, again off Webster but this time with the versatile allrounder bowling off-spin.

Head, who had been 17 overnight, resumed in a blaze of boundaries with Henry Hunt (46) only managing two of the first 36 runs scored on the final day. Peter Siddle ended his patient 148-ball innings with a gem that beat the right-hander's outside edge and cannoned into off-stump.

It did little to deter Head, who creamed Siddle for two consecutive fours right after Hunt's exit, before dispatching three more off one Tom Andrews over to join Callum Ferguson as one of only three active players to have passed 5,000 Shield runs for SA (ousted veteran Tom Cooper is the other).

Head reached his ton off just 120 balls but his side were still 40 runs away from making Tasmania bat again when Bird struck the double blow of ending the 129-run stand with Callum Ferguson (40 off 129) and then dismissing his replacement Harry Nielsen four balls later.

The collapse Tasmania desperately sought might have been sparked had Nathan Ellis had managed to hold on to a difficult caught-and-bowled chance off Head before tea.

Paine, keeping up to Andrews, then made a rare error behind the stumps as he failed to hold on to an edge off Scott though by that stage SA had all but forced the stalemate.

South Australia XI: Jake Weatherald, Henry Hunt, Brad Davis, Travis Head (c), Callum Ferguson, Harry Nielsen (wk), Liam Scott, Chadd Sayers, Kane Richardson, Wes Agar, Lloyd Pope

Tasmania XI: Jordan Silk, Alex Doolan, Charlie Wakim, Ben McDermott, Jake Doran, Tim Paine (c, wk), Beau Webster, Tom Andrews, Nathan Ellis, Peter Siddle, Jackson Bird