South Australia 0 for trail 27 Western Australia 241 (Bancroft 57, Cartwright 56, Agar 6-42) by 214 runs
On the same day when Matt Renshaw and Marcus Harris both failed in their respective Shield matches, Bancroft scored consecutive 57s on the first day in Adelaide.
After Western Australia were all out late, South Australia took an early lead in the match and were stumped at 27 for no loss.
Agar was the star with the ball for the Redbacks early on, claiming career-best figures as he dismantled the visitors’ middle and lower order.
But it was Bancroft who keeps knocking on the doors of the national selectors. The initially patient opener hit two boundaries in Nathan McAndrew’s over before lunch, before he was caught outside the off stump by Agar.
With David Warner set to retire after the SCG Test against Pakistan in January, it is Bancroft who has made the strongest statement to replace him for the rest of the summer. He started the Shield season with 122 against Victoria in Perth, followed by 91 against Tasmania.
Harris, who has long been seen in the front row by Australia’s selectors, was handed a national contract earlier this year and was picked as the backup batsman at the Ashes.
But the Victoria opening batsman has made a poor start to the season, getting out for a duck on the first ball against New South Wales on Thursday, followed by scores of 0 and 10 in his other Shield match against Queensland. After scores of 17, 55 and 135 at the start of the season, Renshaw scored 7 against Tasmania on Thursday.
Bancroft’s innings took him past 6000 first-class runs for Western Australia, making him the 12th player to do so. The opener’s runs also made him the top scorer for WA, whose many batsmen started without batting.
Sam Whiteman top-scored with 30 in a 43-run partnership with Bancroft, while Teague Wylie faced his first 25 balls and scored no runs before being dismissed for 22.