Blues in command against outclassed Redbacks

New South Wales 298 and 2 for 150 (Phelps 61*) lead South Australia 135 (Nicholson 4-36) by 313 runs
Scorecard

New South Wales made South Australia suffer by not enforcing the follow-on as they plotted an outright victory on a dominating day at Adelaide Oval. After dismissing the Redbacks for 135, Brad Haddin opted to bat again to give his spinners the final use of a wearing wicket and by stumps had a buffer of 313. Matthew Phelps was unbeaten on 61 and Dominic Thornely had 25.

Matthew Nicholson began the day with two wickets to crush the South Australia top-order, who began at 2 for 23, and Stuart MacGill spun through the tail with three to seal first-innings points. Greg Blewett, the former Australia batsman, was the only Redback to look comfortable while Nathan Adcock reached 21. The innings continued South Australia's horror run against the Blues after they were dismissed for 29 at the SCG in December.

New South Wales received some bad news when they were docked half a point for a slow over rate in the ING Cup match against Western Australia at the WACA on January 2. Cricket Australia made the decision based on the match reports, but the cut has not affected their position and they remain second last on 7.5 points.