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South Australia amassed the highest total in the history of one-day domestic cricket in Australia. Their 420 for 7, fuelled primarily by centuries from captain Callum Ferguson and opener Jake Weatherald, was enough to shatter Cricket Australia XI and the previous record - 4 for 405 - set by Queensland against Western Australia in 2004.
The game plan was simple. The pitch was flat. CA XI had invited their opposition to bat. The rest became history. The 21-year old Weatherald, playing his first season of List A cricket, raced to his half-century in 31 balls. He was celebrating a century 35 balls later, his first in the format. He finished with 141 off 107 balls with 17 fours and six sixes.
Weatherald's opening partner Alex Carey was one of the few who missed out, dismissed by left-arm quick Tom O'Donnell, who was CA XI's best bowler on the day with 3 for 84, but Ferguson came out and the run-fest continued. The Redbacks captain eased to his sixth List A hundred and turned it into a career-best score - 154, which included 17 fours and three sixes.
"We talk about getting two guys set at the crease together and the sort of damage you can do when that happens," Ferguson told cricket.com.au. "We've managed to do that a couple of times in the past few games and voilà, we've ended up with two wins. It's great to see that come to fruition. When you're playing in good conditions like this you've got to make the most of your starts and Jake and I were able to do that today."
There was little under seven overs left when both men were dismissed, which Alex Gregory used to smack an unbeaten 42 in 24 balls to claim the record.
CA XI's response were build around half-centuries from Josh Inglis (68), Ryan Gibson (68) andJake Carder (98). They were 226 for 3 in the 29th over but the middle and lower orders were unable to combat the humongous scoreboard pressure. They were dismissed for 318 in 42 overs. In a stroke of irony, on a pitch where 738 runs were scored, Cameron Valente, the 22-year old seamer, picked up a career-best 4 for 49 to seal Redbacks' victory.
According to a report on the Cricket Australia website, offspinner Arjun Nair injured his leg in the first over and needed 16 stitches. He completed his 10 overs though, picking up 1 for 68.
