Western Australia rally after NSW top order fires

The New South Wales top order put together a quartet of solid innings without anyone going on to a hundred in the ground-breaking Sheffield Shield match at Lincoln, near Christchurch.

It was the first time in the history of the Shield that a match had been played beyond Australia's borders, and on an evenly-grassed pitch at Bert Sutcliffe Oval the Western Australia captain Adam Voges elected to send the NSW in to bat.

Ed Cowan (57) and Daniel Hughes (65) responded with a partnership that was at first considered then increasingly fluent, blunting the new ball and then adding some attractive strokes to the equation. They had added 116 and looked good for more when Cowan perished to the offbreaks of Ashton Turner.

Hughes was to fall soon after, edging David Moody, who bowls seam up like his uncle Tom, through to Sam Whiteman, who was fit again after missing the Big Bash League through injury. Kurtis Patterson (75) and the captain Nic Maddinson (65) then played contrasting innings, the former's more deliberate style offering a sound counterpoint to the latter's aggression.

They prospered for 104 runs in 24 overs, until Moody chimed in again to defeat Maddinson. The remainder of the day swung towards WA's bowlers, as Ben Rohrer and Trent Copeland fell cheaply either side of Patterson's exit. The Test gloveman Peter Nevill was left to hold the fort with Sean Abbott against the second new ball, with hope of building on the second morning.