McDermott century swings low-scoring scrap Tasmania's way

Tasmania opener Ben McDermott struck his second List A century in three matches, providing nearly half the runs his team needed to win the JLT One-Day Cup game against South Australia at Bankstown Oval in Sydney. The 23-year-old batted through the innings, finishing unbeaten on 102 when the winning runs were hit in the 49th over of a low-scoring scrap.

The chase of 237 had seemed straightforward while McDermott had Jordan Silk for company. They'd come together with the score at 2 for 33 in the 11th over and put on the biggest partnership of the match, Their 123-run union seemed to be the last twist in the tale but Kane Richardson had other ideas, running Jordan Silk out for 71 and creating an opening for South Australia. He also took two more wickets with his fast bowling, assisted by legspinner Adam Zampa to drag Tasmania down from 2 for 156 to 7 for 216. But McDermott was still in the middle and he made sure to stay there till the end.

In the end, South Australia were left ruing a collapse of their own. Although they too had a substantial score from an opening batsman - Jake Weatherald made 79 - and the captain Jake Lehmann contributed with an unbeaten fifty, the final few overs didn't go according to plan. A scoreline that read 2 for 168 with 15 overs left to play veered drastically off course as fast bowlers Riley Meredith, Gurinder Sandhu picked up two wickets each. South Australia could only add a further 68 runs to their total in the last 92 balls, losing five wickets in the process.