Blues' collapse leaves Warriors in box seat

New South Wales has lost its last nine second innings wickets during the final session of the second day of the Pura Cup clash with the Western Warriors at the WACA Ground, stumbling badly after a renewed show of aggression had looked like bringing two days of pedestrian batting action to a halt.

The Warriors look certain to grab victory tomorrow after knocking over the Blues for a total of 130 - an outcome which leaves the visitors holding just a seventy-two run lead overall.

After New South Wales managed a mere 131 in its first innings on day one, the home side was all out today for just 189, giving it first innings points but a lead of only fifty-eight runs. The match then tilted decisively back in the Warriors' favour, though; despite an early act of recovery which included within it the match's first half-century partnership (between Michael Bevan and Mark Higgs), the Blues lost seven late wickets to barely remain in the contest.

The Warriors have veteran medium-fast bowler Jo Angel (2/25), all-rounder Brendon Julian (2/57) and, especially, captain Tom Moody (5/26) to thank for their good fortune. All three produced great things when handed the ball late in the day.

Moody himself was particularly happy with Angel's performance saying that, while all the bowlers performed well, the veteran paceman was especially impressive.

Angel grabbed the scalps of two of the Blues top order batsmen to take his haul of wickets for the match to five. After Brett van Deinsen (13) went cheaply to the bowling of Gavin Swan (1/14), Angel snared the wicket of Greg Mail (14) with the first ball of his eleventh over. The ball deflected off Mail's gloves after he played at it outside leg stump and it fell into the lap of jubilant wicketkeeper Mark Walsh.

Three balls later, Angel caught Corey Richards (0) playing a timid stroke. Richards garnered a slight edge from a defensive shot which then carried to Walsh, ending only a one-minute stint at the crease and giving the New South Welshman a pair for the match.

Angel's very next over almost claimed new batsman Higgs (27), who pushed a low ball to Julian at gully. But Julian could not hold the difficult catch - his second miss after he was caught napping in the same spot yesterday - and the belligerent middle order batsman's stay at the wicket was extended.

Higgs and Bevan (36) then began to look dangerous, making the missed chance appear a costly one. There had been few batting highlights from the first two days' play, but a splendid cover drive by Higgs off Angel's bowling soon compensated for his earlier error and began to make a profitable stay at the crease appear the likely outcome. Moments later, Bevan duplicated Higgs' intent, albeit that he drove the ball square of the wicket.

Then it was Higgs' turn again, a brutal hook shot showing complete disdain both for Angel and short leg fieldsman Murray Goodwin. And, when Bevan guided two Julian deliveries through the gap between second slip and gully, the runs were flowing as quickly as at any preceding time in the match.

It was then the cracks began to appear and soon they were widening beyond belief. The rot started to set in when Moody produced a ball which attracted Higgs' outside edge; this time, Mike Hussey held the slips catch and the Blues found themselves at 4/107.

In the space of one over, Julian then followed up his captain's good work first by finding the outside edge of Bevan (36) as the left hander attempted a defensive shot, and then trapping crease-bound youngster Michael Clarke (0). In the blink of an eye, the visitors had fallen to 6/111.

While Julian and Angel laid most of the groundwork, it was Moody who applied the gloss to his side's efforts. Three overs after Julian's double strike, he snared the scalp of Shane Lee (8) with an lbw decision and had a Don Nash (0) edge carry to slip fieldsman Simon Katich.

Not content with simply matching Julian's effort, Moody repeated his performance in gaining two wickets in an over again at the very end of the Blues' innings. This time, Brad Haddin (12) and Simon Cook (0) were the victims, succumbing as they played down the wrong line at Moody's medium pace to outside edge further catches Walsh's way.

After play, Moody said that, while the wicket was certainly helpful for the bowling side, the Blues' collapse was as much attributable to the Warriors' hard work and his side's capacity to stick to its task.

"We certainly went into this game knowing we had to convert," he said, adding that the Warriors had been in a winning position before only to stumble at the last hurdle.

"Our season certainly has to roll on from here," he said.

Moody added that there had been some evidence of variation in the bounce on the pitch over the course of the first two days and remarked that it was disappointing that the Warriors had been unable to build a bigger first innings lead.

Only the relatively inexperienced Marcus North (47) had in fact looked comfortable at the crease for the home team as it resumed its first innings this morning. For the remainder of the Western Australian batsmen, the task of run scoring was made especially difficult by the accuracy and economy of both Nash (4/57) and Lee (4/43).