South Australia 20 for 1 trail New South Wales 269 (Davies 47, Thornton 5-71) by 249 runs

Test opener Travis Head fell for just 5 in the shadows of stumps on day one in his return to the Sheffield Shield for South Australia against New South Wales.

SA were 20 for 1 at the end of Thursday's play at Karen Rolton Oval, having earlier dismissed the visitors for 269.

Head is among several international players returning to the Shield for the penultimate round, following Australia's early exit from the T20 World Cup.

In his second Shield game of the season, he faced just 12 balls and was out edging a Sean Abbott delivery to second slip.

After winning the toss and electing to bowl, South Australian quick Henry Thornton picked up a career-best 5-71 that included the big scalp of the in-form Kurtis Patterson.

The 29-year-old also produced a gem of a delivery that nipped back and bowled Josh Philippe for 29.

NSW fell to 126 for 6 but were boosted by some lower-order runs from Joel Davies and Abbott, while Charlie Stobo and Liam Hatcher also made important contributions.

South Australia, NSW, Queensland and Tasmania are fighting for the second spot in the Shield final, after runaway leaders Victoria locked up their spot with a win in the previous round.

Heavily scrutinised youngster Sam Konstas got a start at the top of the order for NSW but was out on 37, prodding at a Nathan McAndrew delivery. NSW lost 10 for 3 after getting to a promising 62 for 1