Sam Harper propelled Victoria to a 38-run lead over South Australia on day two of their Sheffield Shield match with a record-breaking century. Despite this, Jake Fraser-McGurk’s maiden first-class century saved South Australia after a strange reprieve. After a fast Shield hundred on Tuesday, Harper continued his masterclass on Wednesday morning, scoring 151- his highest first-class score- as Victoria reached 278. Victoria was struggling at 29 for 4 before Harper’s exceptional hitting. On the other hand, former Victorian player, Fraser-McGurk, hit 101 runs out of 106 balls, steering South Australia within range of Victoria’s total. However, he faced a strange incident when he was out at 19 but was then recalled to the middle after replays showed he had not hit the ball. Ben Manenti and Liam Scott helped South Australia reach 252. On the other hand, Fergus O’Neill took 5 wickets for Victoria, with veteran Peter Siddle taking 3 wickets. In response, Victoria’s second innings started rockily as they had to face a tricky period before stumps. Marcus Harris was out for 6, but he will have another chance to impress selectors when he plays for the Prime Minister’s XI in Canberra next week.
