WA hand defending Shield champions second straight loss

Reigning Sheffield Shield champions South Australia have lost a second consecutive match, with Western Australia claiming a 105-run victory at Adelaide Oval on Saturday.

South Australia were bowled out for 316 midway through the fourth day with opening batter Mackenzie Harvey scoring 90.

The victory saw WA claim the Rod Marsh Cup, a tribute to the legendary Australian wicketkeeper's extraordinary legacy and his lasting impact on cricket both states.

Shield champions for the past two seasons, South Australia looked well placed to score the mammoth 422 for victory when they resumed on the last day at 1-182. Harvey was unbeaten on 90 and captain Nathan McSweeney 57.

However, Harvey lasted just 11 balls without adding to his overnight tally before being bowled between his bat and pad by Ashton Agar and on 66 McSweeney pushed tentatively at a ball from Kieran Elliott to be well caught low at second slip by Cameron Bancroft.

McSweeney missed an ideal opportunity to continue his push for a Test recall after a strong start to the season. He made a one-day century for Australia A against India A earlier this month and another 50-over hundred for South Australia on his return home from India. He's also passed 50 in each of his two Shield matches for SA this season.

South Australia lost 9-132 to suffer a second Shield loss in 10 days after also going down to Queensland by six wickets at Adelaide Oval last week. The two-time champions have one win from their three games so far, beginning their title defence with an innings victory over Victoria at the Junction Oval in round one.

South Australian coach Ryan Harris believes his side missed an opportunity on Thursday.

"We had it set up for a good day today," Harris said, before describing their batting as "not good enough" after being bowled out for 154 on day two in their first innings and then collapsing again in the second on day four.

"Losing is not in our DNA at the moment, so everyone is pretty disappointed," Harris said following the match.

"One thing I love about this group, and led by our captain (McSweeney), is that they fight, and they'll go back to the drawing board and work it out.

"We're just not polished at the moment; we're sort of inconsistent with bat and ball and we're not putting games together."

During their second innings, six of South Australia's top seven batters got going but none cashed in with a century. 

Agar finished the innings with figures of 3-62 while Elliott, Jhye Richardson and Corey Rocchiccioli all took two wickets.

2026-27 Sheffield Shield standings

Round 1

Team	Matches played M	Wins W	Losses L	Ties T	Drawn D	No results N/R	Deductions Ded.	Batting Bonus Bat	Bowling Bonus Bowl	Total points PTS
1 Western Australia Men WA	3	2	0	0	1	0	0	2.53	2.5	18.03
2 South Australia Men SA	3	1	2	0	0	0	0	1.42	2.4	9.82
3 Tasmanian Tigers Men TAS	2	1	0	0	1	0	0	0.86	1.9	9.76
4 NSW Men NSW	2	0	0	0	2	0	0	4.75	1.9	8.65
5 Queensland Bulls QLD	2	1	1	0	0	0	-1	1.45	2	8.45
6 Victoria Men VIC	2	0	2	0	0	0	0	0.51	1.6	2.11

Legend

M: Matches played

W: Wins

L: Losses

T: Ties

D: Drawn

N/R: No results

Ded.: Deductions

Bat: Batting Bonus

Bowl: Bowling Bonus

PTS: Total points