Bollinger spurs NSW to easy success

New South Wales 274 and 2 for 106 (Jaques 54*) beat Western Australia 131 and 245 (S Marsh 94, Bollinger 5-68) by 8 wickets
Scorecard

With the Test stars away, New South Wales have finally gained their first Sheffield Shield win of the season after an eight-wicket victory in three days over Western Australia. When many of the internationals were around for the first two games the Blues did not pick up any points, but Stuart Clark's opening four-day fixture in charge with the understudies quickly turned things around.

Doug Bollinger, who was 12th man at the Gabba, kept his name in the Test frame with eight victims for the contest before Phil Jaques led the easy chase of 103 with an unbeaten 54. Phillip Hughes' uncertain summer continued when he edged his first ball to slip but Usman Khawaja (41) was the only other loss as the runs came up in the 26th over.

Western Australia were 7 for 231 at the beginning of the day, but Clark and Bollinger picked up a wicket each before Michael Hogan was forced to retire hurt after being hit in the head by Bollinger. That forced the close of the innings at 245 and Bollinger walked off with 5 for 68, while Hogan came back to deliver 6.5 overs. The win, which was set up when the Warriors were dismissed for 131 on the opening day, lifted the Blues to fourth spot on six points, two clear of Western Australia and Tasmania.