Western Australia 241 (Bancroft 57, Cartwright 56, Agar 6-42) and beat 377 (Bancroft 100, Hardie 99) on 8 December South Australia 264 (Manenty 86, Paris 6-74) and 154 (Paris 5-39, Haskett 3-31) to reach 200 runs
WA declared overnight and set South Australia a target of 355 to win on the final day, with Paris taking 5 for 39 and the Redbacks being all out for 154.
Paris took the first two wickets, before coming back to finish the job early in the final session. Neither South Australian went beyond 30 runs in their second innings, as they surrendered inside 63 overs.
After taking 6 for 74 in the first innings to bowl out the Redbacks for 264, Paris missed his first Shield match of the summer on Sunday with a hamstring injury.
While his career has been hampered by injury in recent years, Paris has never been far from the selectors’ thoughts after playing two ODIs for Australia in 2016.
He is so respected that during this year’s Ashes he was asked to be ready to join the team as cover for Mitchell Starc if the left-hander got injured.
The 30-year-old set the tone early when he caught the ball of South Australia opener Kelvin Smith and dismissed him for a duck. Paris also caught Daniel Drew pulling, which Hilton Cartwright took brilliantly with one hand over his head at midwicket.
If Paris was Western Australia’s best in the match, Bancroft was not far behind, making 241 with 57 in their first innings, before he scored 100 in the visitors’ second innings.
Bancroft, who was considered at number three at the beginning of the summer to replace David Warner, who is retiring after the Sydney Test, now averages 92.50 this season.
With his fielding, he is making a compelling case to overtake both Marcus Harris and Matt Renshaw in the eyes of the Australian selectors.
“He’s doing everything he possibly can at the moment,” WA coach Adam Voges said. “He was excellent throughout last season, he has started this season the same way he did last year. He is the dominant, in-form batsman of the competition.”
After good work from Bancroft in the field, Paris returned after tea to finish the match when he dismissed both Harry Conway and Wes Agar.
The defeat is South Australia’s second defeat in three matches at the start of the season, leaving them fourth in the rankings.
“It’s pretty disappointing,” coach Jason Gillespie said. “In three Shield games, we’ve had seven individual scores above 40. We can’t keep performing like this. We need to be better.”