Plenty of hype accompanied Konstas to the middle. A voice as loud as Gerard Whateley’s pronounced “it could prove the most significant Sheffield Shield innings so far this decade”, and the game was not merely streamed on the Cricket Australia website, but also airing on Fox Cricket.

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But all those expectations meant little in the face of an early season MCG pitch, a well-calibrated Boland, and the vagaries of umpiring decisions. Konstas took a walk around the boundary after the lunch break, and with the game progressing at speed, will get another knock as soon as Tuesday.

Smith clipped his first ball from Boland through midwicket with ease, but there was very little comfort in the rest of his stay. It was O’Neill, hitting a handkerchief around the off stump, who posed most problems, and Smith faced 28 consecutive dot balls on the way to a glove down the leg side and a brisk march off the field.

O’Neill’s pre-lunch spell featured 10 consecutive overs and figures of 2-11, bowling the kind of precision seam and swing that would reap untold dividends in English county cricket. At 23, he has committed to spending more time in the gym before trying the northern summer.

With that, most of the day’s primary proceedings had already taken place so far as Dodemaide and McDonald were concerned. Victorian skipper Will Sutherland also gave a good account of himself in his first Shield game of the season, leaving NSW in a batting hole.

Their predicament also put fresh perspective on how Marcus Harris and Peter Handscomb had battled through on day one. Older and wider than Konstas, they put in the groundwork to allow Boland, O’Neill and Sutherland to thrive.

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