Daniel Drew brought up a maiden century after a nervous wait early in the day
Victoria 5 for 151 (Harris 58, Pucovski 54) trail South Australia 366 (Drew 130, Weatherald 122, Boland 4-61) by 215 runs
Wickets in the final session saw Victoria throw away a bright start to their innings to be 5 for 151, still 215 runs in arrears of the home side’s 366.
Left out of the fifth Ashes Test in Hobart when Usman Khawaja made an irresistible case to be retained after his twin hundreds, Harris didn’t offer any chances on his Shield return until miscuing a pull shot to be caught at deep square-leg for 58 as South Australia’s short-ball approach paid off
Pucovski’s 123-ball innings, which follows another bout of concussion which kept him out of the first part of the season, came to an end when he was caught behind off David Grant for 54 as he toe-ended a pull although he did not seem thrilled with the decision. Peter Handscomb, Jonathan Merlo and Matt Short soon followed as Victoria lost 4 for 15.
Ashes hero Scott Boland was at his frugal best returning 4 for 61 from 28 overs though he was unable to add to his first-day wicket haul after South Australia recommenced on 5 for 280.
Twenty-one-year-old fast bowler Mitch Perry overshadowed him by taking three of the five wickets to fall. Drew set about securing quick runs after reaching his hundred before being caught behind off Perry as South Australia lost 4 for 19 at the back end of their innings.