Blues bowlers stun WA before top-order falls

NSW's bowlers have rolled through Western Australia on the opening day of their Marsh Sheffield Shield match, before struggling Blues' batters fell cheaply again at a lively SCG.

As the Blues set out to end their 15-match winless streak, paceman Liam Hatcher bagged 4-58 to have two-time defending champions Western Australia all out for 141 on Monday.

But NSW went to stumps at 4-78, in a position to take a first-innings lead but not in the kind of command they would have liked.

They had Hatcher to thank for their position after he struck two crucial blows in a WA collapse of 5-7 either side of lunch

He trapped the in-form Cameron Bancroft lbw early after lunch for 34, the opener's lowest score of the Shield season so far.

Hatcher then had Ashton Turner lbw later in the same over, ripping the heart out of Western Australia.

The right-armer was also involved in the flashpoint of the day, when he thought he had Joel Paris caught at slip, only for the umpires to correctly rule a bump ball.

From the next delivery, Hatcher dug a ball in short and struck Paris on the helmet, prompting a long delay for a concussion check.

Nathan Lyon also bowled with great control in his second Shield match back since tearing his calf muscle in the Ashes at Lord's.

The off-spinner finished with figures of 2-18, offering very little and next to no loose balls to WA's batters.

He had Teague Wyllie lbw for five in the first hour when the youngster played back to one, before Hamish McKenzie was also lbw to the spinner for three.

Lyon was unlucky not to have more wickets, drawing Paris' edge without success. 

He also beat Charlie Stobo in flight before wicketkeeper Matthew Gilkes failed to effect the stumping late in WA's innings.

Lyon has two more matches after this one to round out his preparations for the international summer and the opening NRMA Insurance Test against Pakistan in Perth on December 14.

Paris (24no) and Stobo (15) added 33 for the eighth wicket for WA, but when the visitors surrendered just after tea, NSW looked well on top. 

But as has been the case in their recent losses to Victoria and South Australia, the Blues' top order again crumbled.

Paris bagged 2-18 as he removed both Ryan Hackney (17) and Blake Macdonald (5), moving the ball around nicely.

Debutant McKenzie also took a neat catch low to the ground on the deep-backward-square boundary to remove a hooking Daniel Hughes on 20.

Sheffield Shield 2023-24 standings

Team	Matches played M	Wins W	Losses L	Drawn D	No results N/R	Deductions Ded.	Batting Bonus Bat	Bowling Bonus Bowl	Total points PTS
1 Western Australia Men WA	10	5	2	3	0	0	5.53	9.4	47.93
2 Tasmanian Tigers Men TAS	10	5	2	3	0	0	6.06	8.3	47.36
3 NSW Men NSW	10	4	3	3	0	0	6.31	9	42.31
4 Victoria Men VIC	10	4	4	2	0	0	4.74	8.2	38.94
5 South Australia Men SA	10	3	6	1	0	0	5.19	9.3	33.49
6 Queensland Bulls QLD	10	2	6	2	0	0	3.54	8.3	25.84

Legend

M: Matches played

W: Wins

L: Losses

D: Drawn

N/R: No results

Ded.: Deductions

Bat: Batting Bonus

Bowl: Bowling Bonus

PTS: Total points