Khawaja helps set Queensland tough chase

Queensland 213 (Robinson 77, O'Keefe 3-23, Bollinger 3-55) and 0 for 71 need another 343 runs to beat New South Wales 9 for 458 dec and 3 for 168 dec (Khawaja 78*, Henriques 53*)
Scorecard

Usman Khawaja ensured he will remain at the front of the queue for a Test call-up if Ricky Ponting's broken finger keeps him out of the Boxing Day Test, after helping to keep New South Wales on top against Queensland. Khawaja made an unbeaten 78 as the Blues set the Bulls an unlikely target of 414 for victory, although by stumps on the third day the visitors had made a solid start to their chase.

Queensland reached 0 for 71 at the close, with Ryan Broad on 31 and Wade Townsend on 26, but their task remains an enormous one after three days that have been dominated by New South Wales. The Bulls began the day at 3 for 84 in their first innings and they relied on the debutant Andrew Robinson (77) and the tailender Luke Feldman (43) to guide them to 213.

They lost seven wickets in the first session, including three in four balls taken by the left-arm spinner Steve O'Keefe, who finished with 3 for 23. The axed Test spinner Nathan Hauritz collected 2 for 68 and Doug Bollinger picked up 3 for 55, having also recently been dumped from the Test squad.

New South Wales did not enforce the follow on despite having a 245-run first-innings lead, and they lost early wickets in their second innings to fall to 3 for 36. However, Khawaja steadied the Blues in a strong partnership with Moises Henriques, who ended up on 53 not out when Stuart Clark's declaration came, leaving Queensland 25 overs to face before stumps.