A masterly innings from Test hopeful Phil Jaques has underpinned a commanding New South Wales victory over South Australia in the ING Cup match at the Adelaide Oval.

With Australian incumbent Justin Langer injured in Perth and potential rival Michael Clarke out first ball on Sunday, Jaques cracked 158 from 141 balls to build a useful case for inclusion in the Boxing Day Test should Langer fail to recover.

Jaques felt he had never been closer to an international call-up after reaching his third ING Cup century in as many innings.

"I heard (Langer) has an injury, I hope he can overcome it very quickly and get back in the side, but if I do get an opportunity that would be fantastic, I'd grab it with both hands and enjoy every minute of it," he said.

"It's definitely the closest I've been to being picked, I've had a consistent last few months."

Mainly due to Jaques and Dominic Thornely (76), the Blues posted 4-282 in the afternoon.

It set the stage for Stuart Clark (4-36), who bored into the Redbacks' top order with a spell that left too much for the rest to accomplish, SA eventually bowled out for 209 to allow the Blues a bonus point.

The home side had earlier lost the services of Greg Blewett due to a back complaint, while the Blues chose to rest Stuart MacGill, who suffered from ankle soreness in the lead-up.

NSW batted after captain Simon Katich called correctly, and it was hard going early against the new ball.

Katich skied a Paul Rofe bumper and Corey Richards' stumps were broken when he followed consecutive boundaries with an overly ambitious attempted drive.

Jaques went to 50 with a supercharged six off the otherwise tidy Rofe next over, but his shepherding of the strike meant Clarke waited 12 minutes for his first ball.

When it finally arrived, a hasty shuffle to Mark Cleary's well-pitched cutter had the golden boy lbw for a golden duck.

A haywire run out did for Brad Haddin, and it was only in the final overs that Jaques and Thornely were truly able to cut loose, the short boundary in front of the Victor Richardson gates getting a pounding.

Jaques coshed 11 fours and four sixes en route to his second ING Cup 150 of the summer, while Thornely's three straight sixes from one Daniel Cullen over were the centrepiece of his rapid effort.

In need of a sturdy start, SA was immediately set back by Clark, who coaxed Shane Deitz into an airborne drive in the first over then surprised Graham Manou with sharp lift in the third.

Matthew Elliott never looked comfortable, and he soon guided Doug Bollinger to Richards in the slips to register a duck.

Elegant youngster Callum Ferguson threatened all too briefly before top edging Clark when 23, and at 4-52 there was no way out for the Redbacks.

Mark Cosgrove (76) and Darren Lehmann (43) rallied to SA's cause with a sprightly 108 run stand, before Michael Clarke (3-27) and Bollinger (2-37) won lbw verdicts in successive overs to effectively end the contest.

Lehmann was critical of his side's approach in the last 10 overs with the ball, a period in which Jaques and Thornely heaped 114 runs.

"We've been hurt all year in the last 10 overs so we've got to come up with a plan that's better than the current one," he said.

"We shouldn't be going for 110 off 10 overs when we've got Gillespie and Cleary who've done it for a while."

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