Bartlett puts Bulls on top on rain-shortened day

Queensland paceman Xavier Bartlett claimed three wickets before South Australia launched a mini-fightback, recovering from a diabolical first session on a rain-shortened opening day of the Sheffield Shield clash at Adelaide Oval.

The Bulls ripped through the top order as the Redbacks crashed to 5 for 33 at lunch on day one. But Ben Manenti and Harry Nielsen dug in after the long break, putting on an unbeaten 60-run stand for the seventh wicket.

Manenti is 33 not out after launching an impressive counter-attack, while Nielsen has faced 101 balls for his 32 and is yet to hit a boundary.

It was all the Bulls early as seamers Bartlett and James Bazley had the hosts under pressure for the entire first session. Bartlett was close to unplayable, with figures of 3 for 20 overs from 12.5 overs when rain ended the day, while Bazley collected two scalps.

Opener Jake Weatherald was the only South Australian batter to reach double figures before lunch, with Daniel Drew and Nathan McSweeney both out for ducks.

It was the perfect start for Queensland in opener Joe Burns' 100th Sheffield Shield match. The former Test player is eighth on the Shield runs list for Queensland, with 6646 at an average of 40.52, just 133 behind Allan Border.

Queensland are second on the Shield ladder with two wins, a loss and a draw, while SA are bottom after two losses and two draws.

The Bulls made several changes, with Marnus Labuschagne, Matt Renshaw, Mark Steketee, Michael Neser and captain Usman Khawaja all unavailable because of Australia and Prime Minister's XI commitments.

Wicketkeeper Jimmy Peirson is captaining Queensland, while Bryce Street, Sam Heazlett and Max Bryant returned. Henry Hunt was out of the SA line-up because of his selection in the Prime Minister's XI squad, with Jake Lehmann handed the captaincy duties.