Jake Lehmann seized the chance to impress selectors but Ashes wicketkeeping candidate Alex Carey faltered on day one of South Australia's Sheffield Shield clash with Victoria.
Lehmann plundered 14 fours on the way to a quickfire 103 as the Redbacks went to stumps at the MCG on Saturday at 6-291.
Tom Cooper was unbeaten on 55 with Joe Mennie 10 not out after Carey threw his wicket away on 36 in the final hour of play.
The left-hander faced 104 balls and looked set for a big score before he slashed at a Scott Boland delivery and was caught by Glenn Maxwell at point.
It was a wasted opportunity for Carey to impress on-duty Test selector Trevor Hohns, with incumbent wicketkeeper Matthew Wade again failing to reach double figures for Tasmania in the Tigers' match against Queensland.
Lehmann made the most of the spotlight, becoming just the second batsman after Test No.3 Usman Khawaja to reach triple figures so far this season.
The big-hitting son of Australian coach Darren Lehmann needed only 112 balls to bring up his sixth first-class century.
Gifted a life on 19 when he was dropped at gully, Lehmann - who boasts a first-class average of 41.60 - provided a timely reminder of his attacking potency.
His freewheeling knock came to an end when he played an upper-cut shot to a short Boland delivery and was brilliantly caught by a running Aaron Finch at third man.
Boland claimed the key wicket of Redbacks captain and No.6 Test prospect Travis Head a short time later.
Head made 67 before mistiming a pull shot and being caught by Travis Dean at deep mid-wicket.
It was a patient knock from the 23-year-old, who performed well during Australia's limited-overs tour of India. He has been identified by skipper Steve Smith as a strong Test candidate.
Lehmann and Head's 164-run partnership was much needed for SA, who quickly fell into trouble at 3-18 after winning the toss and batting.
Boland was the pick of Victoria's bowlers with 3-57 off 19 overs, while Chris Tremain struck early and finished with 2-53.
Victorian captain Peter Handscomb was pleased with the tighter effort from his bowlers after he challenged them earlier in the day.
"All of the bowlers got a little bit of a clip at lunch but responded beautifully, and came out and hit that line and length that we ask for," Handscomb said.
"It was a great response from all of them and Scotty looked very threatening."
Lehmann said his side would look for more runs on what had been a fairly sedate pitch.
"I think it's a pretty even day, to be honest with you," he said.
"We'll need to come tomorrow and really hope that 'Coops' and Joey and the tail can push that to 350-plus, I think, because the wicket's quite good (for batting) out there."
