A three-wicket haul to Steve O’Keefe and quickfire half century to Nic Maddinson have put NSW in a strong position at stumps on day three of their Sheffield Shield clash with Queensland.
But outright victory may elude them after former Blues batsman Peter Forrest hit a valuable 97 to help Queensland past the follow on and to a total of 306.
Not that O’Keefe is willing to give up on grabbing six points.
“We’ve given ourselves every opportunity,” he said after play.
“…It’s going to be tough but we’re going to want six points.
“We’ve got 112 overs tomorrow (and) we’re going to need at least 80 to bowl them out.
“(A target) of anywhere north of 350 would be great.”
NSW finished the day 1-111, with Maddinson run out for 67 off 86 and first innings centurion Ryan Carters unbeaten on 38 holding an overall lead of 202.
Maddinson possibly signalled the Blues’ tactics when he attacked Nathan Hauritz (0-36), thumping the former Test spinner back over his head for consecutive sixes.
Earlier, fringe Australian one-day batsman Forrest thwarted his former teammates for 268 balls but fell desperately short of his ninth first class ton on Sunday.
“I had to work hard for my runs today,” he told AAP.
“I suppose that’s credit to NSW – they bowled very well.
“There’s runs out there if you’re prepared to put in and do the hard yards.”
O’Keefe (3-44) was the best performed bowler on Sunday, grabbing the wickets of James Hopes (56) and Michael Neser (23), before rattling Forrest’s stumps.
After losing time on Friday and Saturday to rain, the Blues may need a sporting declaration or something extraordinary to fall their way in order to secure an outright victory.
They would’ve needed to back up Doug Bollinger’s fiery spell from Saturday evening in order to put themselves into a position to secure back-to-back outright wins over Queensland, following last week’s 150-run win.
Bollinger attempted to do it all himself, sending down several aggressive spells – but was unable to add to his three overnight wickets.
The fiery left-armer did manage to hit Forrest with one particularly nasty bouncer, but the 28-year-old remained solid – though he did call for a replacement helmet.
“He’s back to his best, he’s bowling fast,” Forrest added.
“He puts in all day and he’s a really good competitor. You’re always in a contest with Doug.”
Forrest added 48 with Chris Lynn (28), 50 with Chris Hartley (28) and 87 with captain Hopes.
Forrest and Lynn looked in fine touch early on Sunday, and it took something special to break them up.
Lynn slashed at a wide ball from Trent Copeland (1-61) and four runs seemed the likely option before Kurtis Patterson snared a stunning one-handed catch in the gully.
The Bulls are batting a man down following a knee injury to paceman Matthew Gale, who will miss up to ten weeks.
