Sheffield Shield leaders Queensland have been torn to shreds by an understrength NSW outfit, crumbling in their second innings to be all out for 173, setting NSW a target of just 98 on day three at Manuka Oval.
The miserable return, in addition to their first innings of 243, gives the Blues the better part of a day and a session to push for just their second outright victory of the season.
The Bulls struggled mightily with some uneven bounce on Thursday, leading to Blues allrounder Moises Henriques picking up two wickets when Wade Townsend (39) and Peter Forrest (22) shouldered arms to regulation deliveries only to have their stumps rattled.
First innings heroes Chris Hartley (3) and Nathan Reardon (5) both offered little resistance the second time around, while wickets fell regularly throughout the day.
The biggest fightback came from lower-order batsmen Ben Cutting (31) and Cameron Boyce (21 not out), who put on 35 valuable runs for the ninth wicket.
Their partnership was brought undone by 20-year-old debutant legspinner Adam Zampa, who trapped Cutting lbw before having Luke Feldman caught at mid-off by David Dawson for one to finish with figures of 3-17.
The Blues dominated the day after making a declaration after just half an hour, closing their first innings at 8-319.
Captain Stephen O’Keefe’s declaration looked unusual at first under clear skies, but turned out to be a masterstroke as the Blues took three scalps before lunch, and a further five during an extended middle session to have the visitors on the ropes.
Usman Khawaja, the third-highest run-scorer in Shield cricket leading into this game, had been eager to impress with national selector Andy Bichel watching from the stands.
But on the day of Ricky Ponting’s Test retirement, Khawaja responded with his second failure of the match on a traditionally batsman-friendly wicket.
The 25-year-old could only muster eight runs before being trapped lbw to former Test paceman Doug Bollinger, who also removed Khawaja for a second ball duck in the first innings.
Zampa and Henriques (3-31) were the pick of the Blues bowlers, while Josh Lalor has 2-31 and Bollinger and Sean Abbott had one each.
And they’ve done it without Test hopefuls Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Shane Watson and the injured Trent Copeland (ankle).
Earlier, former Test allrounder Steve Smith was unable to add to his overnight score of 90, falling agonisingly short of his sixth first-class century.
Smith was removed with the fifth ball of the opening over of the day when he feathered a catch down legside to Bulls keeper Hartley off Cameron Gannon (3-51).
