Mitch Perry makes his mark by removing Steven Smith as Victoria's bowlers dominate New South Wales

Victoria youngster Mitch Perry starred with three wickets including the prized scalp of Steven Smith as New South Wales were bundled out for just 165 on the opening day of the Sheffield Shield clash at the SCG.

Moises Henriques showed why he remains in Test calculations playing a lone hand for the Blues with a composed 67 on a day where Victoria dominated proceedings after skipper Peter Handscomb won the toss and elected to bowl.

Openers Nic Maddinson and Marcus Harris put on a rollicking unbeaten half-century stand in the final hour of the day to put the visitors firmly in control.

James Pattinson bowled a brisk opening spell and removed Nick Larkin cheaply before Perry claimed the biggest scalp of his short career. He tested Smith's patience wide of off stump before finding his outside edge with a superb delivery that angled in and shaped away.

Pattinson followed up with an even better delivery to breach the defence of Daniel Hughes from around the wicket to leave the Blues reeling at 4 for 46.

Henriques showed the value of soft hands and playing late on a pitch with plenty of sideways movement. He struck just four boundaries in his 67 and absorbed 170 balls in the process. He watched six team-mates come and go at the other end with only Peter Nevill and Sean Abbott reaching double figures.

Only a delay for a fire alarm halted Victoria's progress. Perry accounted for Nevill and later bagged Nathan Lyon to finish with three wickets while Jon Holland cleaned up the tail to bag three of his own including Henriques, whose patience finally wore thin. He was the last man out, stumped by a mile trying to hit Holland out of the ground.

Maddinson and Harris rode their luck against a Test-quality attack. They were beaten repeatedly by Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc but punished anything fractionally loose. Maddinson sat deep in his crease and played some cracking pull and hook shots, including one high into the stands, before punching the overcorrections through the covers as he raced to 43 not out off just 36 balls.