Queensland have made a slight recovery from a disastrous start on day one of their Sheffield Shield clash with NSW at Manuka Oval.
The Bulls crashed to be 4-18 early on Tuesday after destructive spells from Blues pace pair Doug Bollinger and Josh Lalor, before an unbeaten 31-run partnership between Nathan Reardon (9) and captain Chris Hartley (21) carried the visitors through to 4-49 at lunch.
Taking charge of a Blues attack missing Test hopefuls Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Shane Watson and the injured Trent Copeland (ankle), Bollinger stood up with a fearsome spell, ripping the heart out of the Bulls batting lineup.
Under overcast skies, the 31-year-old charged in and made the most of the favourable conditions, trapping both Wade Townsend and Usman Khawaja lbw in the first three deliveries of the match to have the Bulls reeling at 2-0.
Soon after Lalor became the destroyer, cramping Joe Burns (1) for room with a short-pitched delivery which could only be fended off to Scott Henry at bat pad.
Former NSW batsman Peter Forrest put up some resistance before he too was trapped lbw by Lalor for 17, making the score 4-18 before Hartley and Reardon helped stabilise the innings by lunch.
NSW lost rising paceman Josh Hazlewood on the eve of the match with the 21-year-old called up to Australia’s 14-man squad for Friday’s Test with South Africa at the WACA.
They were already without Test squad members Michael Clarke, Shane Watson, David Warner and Mitchell Starc plus the injured Trent Copeland (ankle).