Jewell's 80 crowns awful day for Victoria

New South Wales 1 for 132 (Jaques 73*, Mail 55) trail Victoria 169 (Jewell 80, MacGill 3-52) by 37 runs
Scorecard

New South Wales strengthened their chances of making it to the Pura Cup final as they dismissed Victoria for a paltry 169 after they won the toss and batted at the SCG. By close of play, the Blues were trailing by just 37 runs, with nine first-innings wickets still in hand.

The Bushrangers managed 4 for 40 by lunch, and without Nick Jewell's 80, his first half-century in his fifth match, the situation would have been dire. Stuart MacGill added three wickets while Stuart Clark, Nathan Bracken and Matthew Nicholson each grabbed two.

Then, Greg Mail and Phil Jaques led the run-fest for NSW, adding 131 for the opening wicket before Mail was dismissed for 55 just seven balls before the close of play. However, Jaques was still going strong, unbeaten on 73 off just 112 balls, and with plenty of batting still to follow, the Blues had an excellent opportunity to take a huge lead and gun for an outright victory. Depending on the result at the Gabba, where Queensland are playing Western Australia, New South Wales, currently in third place, could host the final if they secure a win here.