New South Wales 136 & 185 for 6 (Philippe 70*, Konstas 43, Boland 2-41) trail Victoria 272 and 246 (Harper 72, Rogers 59, Starc 6-81) by 197 runs
The Blues chase got off to a horror start as they lost 4 for 35. Boland was back to his unerring best with the new ball. He had Nic Maddinson caught at slip off a no-ball before nicking him off again with a brilliant legal delivery from around the wicket that angled in and seamed away.
He then trapped Smith lbw with a delivery that nipped back sharply from wide of off. Smith shouldered arms not expecting so much movement. Umpire Sam Nogajski thought it was hitting the stumps. It was a brave decision but, despite Smith’s clear displeasure, replays suggested it was highly likely to be hitting the stumps.
Moises Henriques was trapped lbw by Fergus O’Neill before Ollie Davies fell nicking a loose drive off Will Sutherland.
Konstas held firm in the face of some excellent seam bowling. But he battled for fluency despite looking sound in defence. The moment he tried to expand he nearly came unstuck. On 23, he drove firmly at a Boland delivery that wasn’t as full as it appeared. A thick edge flew to Peter Handscomb’s right at second slip, but he could not reel it in at full stretch despite getting two hands to it.
The drop appeared to free Konstas up. He began to accumulate, moving to 43 alongside Philippe, who continued the form he showed in his unbeaten 45 in the first innings.
The Blues were 97 for 5 before Philippe and Sean Abbott steadied the innings. The two shared a 59-run stand before Abbott edged Sutherland to first slip.
Philippe reached a half-century for the second time this season and looks in good touch heading into his Australia A appearance in a few weeks.
Earlier in the day, Harper and Rogers produced an excellent 130-run partnership to put Victoria in a strong position before late hitting from O’Neill and Murphy pushed the game seemingly beyond the Blues reach. Harper made 72 and looked in complete control before holing out to wide fine leg when a predictable plan had been set for him.
Rogers made 59, his maiden first-class half-century, and looked very assured before he lost a battle with Nathan Lyon. Australia’s No. 1 Test spinner went over the wicket to the left-hand batter for a period of time to dry him up. He fell trying to work against the spin and was caught at short leg.
Starc and Abbott threatened to blow the tail away but O’Neill and Murphy made 33 and 36 respectively with some lusty hitting and some good fortune. Starc finally castled both of them to finish with six wickets.
Alex Malcolm is an associate editor at ESPNcricinfo
Source: ESPN Crickinfo