New South Wales will go into the final day of their Sheffield Shield clash with Queensland at the SCG with little hope of a result but keen to put wind in their sails heading into the mid-season break.

The Blues will resume at 6-386, with Ryan Carters (176no) and Sean Abbott (20no), holding an 118-run first innings lead.

While NSW have held the ascendancy since the second session, thanks to tons from Carters and Kurtis Patterson (126), a rain-marred third day robbed them of chasing a result.

Carters will have made Australian selectors take notice with a patient knock while NSW coach Trevor Bayliss will find it hard to drop Patterson after he posted his second first-class ton.

Patterson became the youngest player to score a Shield ton in 2011 when he blasted 157 against WA at 18 years and 206 days but has been in and out of the side since.

He was initially left out of the Blues’ XI against the Bulls however was included when Nic Maddinson withdrew following the death of Phillip Hughes.

After the current round of Shield fixtures concludes on Friday, the competition will break for the Big Bash League.

Patterson will play for the Sydney Thunder in the Twenty20 competition and said when the Shield resumed he would spend the rest of the season pushing for a regular spot in the NSW line up.

“I certainly haven’t cemented my spot in this team after last year or anything like that so it’s still a case of me earning my role in the middle order,” he said.

“Today was a really good for me, not being picked originally in the 11, to go out and score a hundred.

“So hopefully that puts me in good stead after the Big Bash.”