Bushrangers prosper in Smith's absence

Victoria ended New South Wales' unbeaten run in the Matador Cup, showing the Blues are a much diminished side without the presence of their captain Steven Smith, who missed the game at North Sydney Oval due to knee soreness.

Australia's selectors will be nervously awaiting further updates on how Smith's knee responds to rest. He has been managing the niggle since midway through the Ashes tour, but felt more pain than usual during his century for the Blues against Western Australia on Friday.

Moises Henriques led NSW in Smith's absence, and it looked for most of the day as though the hosts would rumble to their sixth consecutive victory in the competition.

Victoria were well served by a pair of strong innings from Rob Quiney and Matthew Wade, but Mitchell Starc was ruthless as ever with the Bushrangers' tail, claiming their last three wickets in the space of two overs and leaving 19 deliveries of the Victorian innings unused.

The NSW chase began soundly, but none of Nic Maddinson, Ed Cowan, Shane Watson, Henriques or Peter Nevill could go on from their starts, leaving the Blues' lower order exposed to a a slowing pitch and a reverse swinging ball.

John Hastings bowled incisively to exploit that movement, claiming three wickets in his final spell while Dan Christian chimed in by hitting Watson's front pad. Remarkably, six out of the top seven Blues batsmen all fell lbw.

Nevill and Steve O'Keefe looked momentarily capable of carrying the Blues the rest of the way, but Scott Boland and Christian swiftly closed out the innings after Nevill's run out, as the last four NSW wickets tallied only four runs.