Bartlett, Peirson hold up NSW after Davies' attacking century
Legspinner Tanveer Sangha picked up four wickets, one from a spectacular Davies catch, before Queensland's lower order fought back
AAP
13-Mar-2024
Ollie Davies continued his impressive season with another century • Getty Images
Queensland 144 and 287 for 8 (Peirson 64, Bartlett 57*, Sangha 4-116) lead New South Wales 316 (Davies 131, Konstas 57, Swepson 3-76) by 115 runs
Ollie Davies struck a sparkling century before taking a spectacular one-handed catch to put New South Wales on track for victory against Queensland at Allan Border Field.
Davies thumped 131 off 147 balls to lift NSW to 316 in reply to Queensland's paltry 144. The home side went to stumps on day three at 287 for 8 in their second innings, a lead of 115 with just two wickets remaining.
Queensland sunk to 42 for 4 and 118 for 5 before Jimmy Peirson and Jack Wildermuth helped them avoid an innings loss.
Xavier Bartlett, with his second half-century of the match, then combined with Mitch Swepson to push Queensland to a small lead.
The pair will resume at the crease on Thursday, with captain Peirson still hopeful of pulling off an upset victory.
"I'd love another 50 or 60 runs," Peirson said. "There's a crack developing at one end for the quicks to hit that, and there's certainly some divots there to play with as well. So if we can get another 50 or 60 runs - it's a funny game."
NSW spinner Tanveer Sangha finished the day with 4 for 116, snaring the scalps of Angus Lovell, Jack Clayton and Ben McDermott along the way.
The most special of those dismissals was that of Clayton, with Davies snaring a one-handed reflex catch at leg slip to send the batter packing.
"I was going right and then it went left, so I stuck the hand out there and got it. It was a nice one," Davies said.
NSW resumed play on Wednesday well placed at 222 for 5. Although Jack Edwards was only able to add one more run, Davies took the game by the scruff of the neck to post a deserved century.
It marked the 23-year-old's second consecutive Shield ton, following on from his 115 against South Australia earlier this month.
"I felt good out there," Davies said. "I played some attacking cricket and tried to put them under pressure. The wicket looks like it's getting nice and flat, so hopefully we can clean them up in the morning and be chasing no more than 120, 130."
NSW opener Sam Konstas suffered a potential concussion after hitting his head on the turf while dropping a catch late on day three. Konstas was falling backwards in an attempt to catch a skied ball from Mark Steketee.
As the ball slipped through his fingers, Konstas' head whipped backwards and struck the turf. He went off the field for a concussion test and looks set to miss the final day.
"I think he's going to be sitting tomorrow out," Davies said. "He didn't look amazing when he was coming off, but hopefully he's all good moving forward."