Victoria 0 for 418 (Pucovski 199*, Harris 207*) lead South Australia 200 by 218 runs

Records were shattered at Glenelg Oval in Adelaide as Marcus Harris and Will Pucovski batted throughout the second day to set a new record for a Victoria Sheffield Shield opening stand with an unbroken pairing of 418 against South Australia.

Harris reached his second Shield double century shortly before the close but Pucovski will sleep on 199 in his first first-class innings as an opening batsman with the pair sending significant reminders to the Australia selectors.

It was just the fifth time in Shield history a duo had combined for a 400-run stand and the second-highest opening stand in Shield history. They need just 14 runs in the morning to move past Geoff Marsh and Mike Veletta's first-wicket record of 431. Incidentally, new Victoria coach Chris Rogers sits third on the all-time partnership list.

The pair cruised past Victoria's previous highest Sheffield Shield stand of 390, set by Julien Wiener and Jeff Moss in 1981. Harris and Pucovski now own the second-highest partnership for Victoria in first-class cricket, behind Ernie Mayne and Bill Ponsford's stand of 456 set in 1923.

Harris, who has not played a Test match since he was dropped following the 2019 Ashes, was rewarded for some off-season work on his technical set-up, cruising to his 14th first-class century just before tea, his fifth against South Australia.

Pucovski reached his fifth Sheffield Shield century just an over later, having declared this week that he was in the best mental state of his young career having regularly missed games over the last three seasons due to mental health and concussion issues.

The pair went to tea at 0 for 233, already having established a lead of 33, and then piled on 185 runs in the last session as South Australia wilted woefully.

Pucovski gave a life on 119 when he was dropped at leg slip attempting to pull a short ball, but the pair were otherwise untroubled by a toothless Redbacks attack.

Harris' new alignment was tested as South Australia's pacemen went around the wicket regularly and he passed with flying colours. He was well behind in the race for 200 midway through the last session but feasted in the last hour to beat Pucovski to the milestone.

Pucovski was attacked briefly by some short stuff earlier in the day but, for the most part, looked impenetrable. His composure, placement, and timing were a feature throughout the day. He was unfortunate to be stuck one run shy of his second Shield double hundred but he looked content to bat for a week if necessary.

Chadd Sayers was the only Redback to concede less than 3.5 runs per over as they failed to either contain or truly threaten the Victoria pair at any stage. They trail by 218 runs with two days to spare and will need a repeat of last week's heroics against Tasmania to avoid defeat.