Blues fight their way into a lead

New South Wales 293 and 3 for 184 (Henry 78*, Nevill 54*, Hussey 2-16) lead Victoria 330 (Rogers 125, White 72, Starc 4-72) by 147 runs
Scorecard

Mitchell Starc did his prospects of an Adelaide Test call-up no harm with four wickets as NSW fought their way into the Sheffield Shield match with Victoria on day three in Sydney.

The Blues restricted Victoria to a first innings lead of 37 despite a century by the prolific left-hander Chris Rogers and 72 to Cameron White, before a sturdy partnership between Scott Henry and Peter Nevill pushed the Blues' lead towards 150 by the close.

Used sparingly at times during the Busharngers' innings, Starc showed his knack for wicket taking with the second new ball, defeating Rogers, White and the last man Louis Cameron.

Josh Hazlewood and Moises Henriques also bowled effectively, while Doug Bollinger was more threatening than figures of 0-70 from 20 overs suggested.

Batting a second time, NSW lost a trio of wickets for 11 runs after Henry and David Dawson had added 78, two falling to the useful part-time off spin of David Hussey. Despite the pitch showing signs of wear, Henry and Nevill then showed good sense to build the lead and set up an intriguing final day.