Blues frustrate Vics
Sun, 14 February 2010
New South Wales tyros Phillip Hughes and Steven Smith have taken full advantage of some sloppy Victorian fielding to give the Blues a chance of avoiding outright defeat after three days of the Sheffield Shield clash at the MCG. On a day when Victorian all-rounder Andrew McDonald did damage with both bat and ball, the Bushrangers appeared on course for the outright win that would have seen the defending Shield champions move eight points clear of Queensland at the top of the table with three rounds remaining. At one stage the Blues were 3-59 in their second innings and still trailing by 134 runs overall after Victoria earlier made 418 in its first innings in reply to the Blues' total of 225. But the Bushrangers, who are aiming for back-to-back Shield titles for the first time since 1980, let New South Wales off the hook by dropping both Hughes and Smith as the pair put on 194 for the fourth wicket until McDonald capped off a great day by having Hughes caught behind by stand-in keeper Aaron Finch for 149 in the last over before stumps. The Blues ended the day at 4-253, an overall lead of 60 but with rain forecast for the final day they could still avoid outright defeat. But even if the Vics only end up with first innings points from this match they will still be four points clear on top of the table while leaving New South Wales in last place. Hughes was dropped by Nick Jewell at short mid-off on 58 off the bowling of McDonald while Smith was even more fortunate when Chris Rogers put down a sitter at first slip off the bowling of Darren Pattinson after the leg-spinning all-rounder top-edged an attempted pull shot. And by stumps the pair had made the Vics pay with Smith unbeaten on 69 as Hughes made a welcome return to form after he went this innings having scored just 158 runs at 19.8 in his past eight innings in all forms of the game since the Sydney Test. Earlier McDonald's first Shield century since the opening game of the season plus a courageous innings from Rogers ensured the Bushrangers' a big first innings lead. The Bushrangers, resuming at 4-213, needed just eight overs to claim the first innings points on Sunday as keeper Matthew Wade and McDonald put on 116 for the fifth wicket before Wade fell for 53. Unfortunately for the Bushrangers, the in-form Wade suffered a back injury while batting and was unable to keep wicket during the Blues' second innings - leaving batsman Finch to fill in. Wade's dismissal however only served to further increase the Blues' agony as it meant the Bushrangers had the luxury of bringing in star opener Rogers at No.8 after the left-hander was unable to bat on day two due to illness. And after McDonald departed for a well-made 120, Rogers continued building the Vics lead by hitting an unbeaten 80 - less than 48 hours after he was hospitalised overnight due to a mystery illness on Friday. Knowing their Shield season was virtually over as their second innings got underway, the visitors were soon in trouble in the humid conditions as Damien Wright - who took 5-37 in the first innings - immediately struck again when he trapped Phil Jaques lbw for just six. The 34-year-old, playing just his second game of the season following a pre Christmas calf injury, then pulled off a spectacular catch in the gully to get rid of Blues' skipper Simon Katich off the bowling of John Hastings for just 13 before McDonald continued his magnificent match when he picked up the wicket of the Blues' top scorer in the first innings in Peter Forrest, lbw for one in his first over. At that stage the Vics even appeared capable of claiming outright victory inside three days but now they will be praying for the rain to stay away on Monday to aid their bid for maximum points. New South Wales first innings 225 Victoria first innings Mash lbw Copeland 6 Jewell c Hughes b Starc 28 Finch c O'Keefe b Copeland 38 Hussey c D Smith b Hazlewood 29 McDonald c S Smith b Hazlewood 120 Wade c Thornely b Copeland 53 Hastings c Thornely b Starc 7 Rogers not out 80 Wright run out 9 Pattinson c Katich b S Smith 10 Holland c S Smith b Hazelwood 12 Extras: 26 (16lb, 5w, 2nb, 3b) Total: 418 (114 overs) FOW: 1-27, 2-59, 3-102, 4-131, 5-247, 6-275, 7-317, 8-336, 9-363, 10-418 Bowling Copeland 35 - 10 - 93 - 3 Hazlewood 19 - 2 - 94 - 3 (5w) Starc 19 - 4 - 70 - 2 (1nb) Thornely 16 - 6 - 51 - 0 S Smith 21 - 6 - 71 - 1 O'Keefe 4 - 0 - 20 - 0 New South Wales second innings Jaques lbw Wright 6 Hughes c Finch b McDonald 149 Katich c Wright b Hastings 13 Forrest lbw McDonald 1 S Smith not out 69 Extras: 15 (7lb, 6nb, 2b) Total: 253 (four wickets, 54.5 overs) FOW: 1-6, 2-51, 3-59, 4-253 Bowling Wright 14 - 1 - 59 - 1 D Pattinson 8 - 2 - 37 - 0 (2nb) Hastings 13 - 5 - 48 - 1 (2nb) McDonald 9.5 - 0 - 41 - 2 (2nb) Holland 7 - 0 - 47 - 0 Hussey 3 - 1 - 12 - 0
Paul Gough at the MCG, Sportal
