Victoria captain Cameron White slammed his side’s poor batting performance on what he described as the ‘best wicket’ he’d played on for a while after the Bushrangers’ second-innings collapse on day three allowed South Australia back into the Sheffield Shield clash at Adelaide Oval.
A win for the home side would cap an amazing turnaround from when Victoria reached 2-289 on day one before an 8-40 collapse.
The Bushrangers have lost a stunning 18 wickets for 176 since that impressive start.
“I thought SA bowled really well,” White said. “They barely bowled a loose ball in that second innings.
“But in saying that, 136 (score) and James (Pattinson) as our top-scorer (33), that’s unacceptable to have that happen, especially after losing eight-for not many in the first innings once SA took the new ball.
“It’s something we’ll have to address.
“This is the best wicket we’ve played on for quite a while, especially here at Adelaide Oval.
“I think it’s a very good cricket wicket, getting back towards something like the old Adelaide Oval pitch, which is always good to see.”
The Redbacks are 155 runs adrift of victory after wobbling to 2-34 at stumps in a dramatic final session in which young SA opener Sam Raphael (11) retired hurt after being cracked by a vicious Pattinson bumper and first-innings centurion Phil Hughes (17 not out) surviving a huge caught-behind appeal, a regulation dropped slips catch and an extremely confident leg-before shout.
White was sympathetic towards David Hussey, who spilled the catch with Hughes on 10, before holding himself back when discussing the LBW appeal in which Pattinson beat Hughes all ends up.
“No-one means to drop catches, that’s just part of the game,” White said.
“I thought the other one (LBW) was pretty clear but that’s the way sometimes things go in the game of cricket.
“I can’t say anything more about that.
“I’m not allowed to say too much about the umpires these days because I’ll be the first to go down.”
While Pattinson looked exasperated at being denied the scalp of SA’s best batsman, White was encouraged with the steady improvement the Test spearhead showed in his first bowl in more than two months since sustaining a rib injury at this venue in the second Test against South Africa, capturing the early wicket of Michael Klinger and forcing Raphael to retire hurt.
“He (Pattinson) is working back into it,” White said. “He’s still trying to find his rhythm and he’s getting close to that now.
“It was a nice spell for us to get the crucial wicket of Maxy (Klinger).
“I hope the young kid’s (Raphael) head’s all right and he comes back tomorrow.
“On a slower wicket, it’s good fast bowling.
“It’s all about rhythm for James. Once he finds that and finds his groove he’s dangerous.”
Unsurprisingly, White believes Hughes will be the key on what looms as a gripping final day, with a result guaranteed one way or the other.
“No secret, Hughes is going to be a big wicket, hopefully early for us,” White said. “Then we can make the SACA camp pretty nervous – that’s where the game’s at.
“If it’s not 50-50, it’s pretty close to it.”
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