Warriors secure lead despite Lambert's five

New South Wales 177 and 2 for 62 trail Western Australia 265 (Lambert 5-82) by 26 runs
Scorecard

Grant Lambert's first five-wicket haul in first-class cricket was not enough to stop Western Australia securing a handy first-innings lead of 88. After bowling the Warriors out for 265, New South Wales lost a couple of wickets but their batsmen fared comparatively better than they did in the first innings, ending at 2 for 62 with Greg Mail on 24 and the nightwatchman Beau Casson on 1.

Resuming their overnight score of 3 for 106, the Warriors lost their captain Marcus North first thing in the morning, trapped lbw to his opposing number Dominic Thornely. Adam Voges was Lambert's first victim of the day, edging to Daniel Smith and the side was in a spot of bother at 5 for 128.

However, Trent Kelly and Theo Doropoulos added a crucial 76 to help the Warriors past the Blues' 177 and secure first-innings points before both were dismissed within four runs of each other after crossing 200. Doropoulos fell within sight of his half-century and his 41, which included eight fours, was the highest score of the innings. Lambert then cleaned up the tail to finish with 5 for 82.

It didn't take long for the Warriors to strike, as Steve Magoffin sent back Phillip Hughes for a duck in the first over. Peter Forrest and Mail showed a lot of patience in constructing a half-century stand for the second wicket and the Warriors had to wait until the 30th over for their second breakthrough, when Forrest edged one to Luke Ronchi off North.