Victoria again showed their depth as bowlers Scott Boland and Fawad Ahmed helped the Sheffield Shield leaders secure a fourth crushing defeat in succession at Adelaide Oval.
The Bushrangers ran through the South Australia batting on day four, bowling out the Redbacks for just 189, to earn a 218-run victory and tighten their hold on top spot on the Shield ladder.
The Vics went into the match without frontline bowlers James Pattinson and Peter Siddle, both of whom are part of Australia's touring squad currently in New Zealand.
But Boland seamlessly stepped into the breach where his return to Victorian colours could not have been any better.
Boland followed up his 5-38, with 3-52 in the second innings, having spent the past six weeks representing Australia for the first time in the shorter form of the game.
Ahmad, meanwhile, has traversed a different path this season.
A low key tour of England saw him drop from Test contender to having a brief spell in grade cricket.
However, Ahmed has continued to bounce back and his 5-24 off 12.2 tight overs has seen him become the Vics' leading wicket-taker for the season.
"He got plenty of drift and spin and we couldn't counteract that," South Australia captain Travis Head said of Ahmed.
"On day four on Adelaide Oval spinners naturally come into play, and he cleaned up the tail and he also got some key wickets last night (on Tuesday).
Head said Boland proved hard to handle on the normally placid Adelaide Oval pitch.
"He showed the best way of bowling on that wicket, hitting the wicket hard and putting it in good areas which he has down all season," Head said.
"He got five of the first six wickets (in the first innings) and bowled beautifully."
The Redbacks started the final day at 4-126, chasing an unlikely 408 for victory after the Vics declared on Tuesday at 5-306.
Nightwatchman Joe Mennie was immediately sent packing, and the Redbacks' hopes evaporated when top-scorer Travis Head (59) and Alex Ross (13) then fell for the addition of only one run.
South Australia, who went into the match in second place, appear in freefall after successive heavy home defeats and with a tough trip to face NSW up next.
"We need to take confidence from the games we have won and the kind of cricket we have previously played," said Head. "But we haven't done that in the past two games."
Share
