Marcus Harris finished 41 not out at stumps on day two to push his Ashes case as Victoria gained a lead of 123 with nine wickets in hand
Victoria 199 & 1 for 75 (Harris 41*) lead New South Wales 151 (Patterson 48, Boland 4-34) by 123 runs
Boland then bagged the prized scalp of Patterson on 48, as he has done in previous encounters, angling in from around the wicket and nipping away to scratch the outside edge. The Blues’ tail offered very little resistance with Jack Edwards left stranded on 29 not out as the last five wickets fell for just 19 runs. Mitchell Perry and Jon Holland picked up two apiece while Boland claimed the last two to finish with 4 for 34.
Victoria suffered a loss early in their second innings with James Seymour superbly caught down the leg side by Peter Nevill of Trent Copeland. But Harris and Peter Handscomb then saw Victoria to stumps with an unbeaten 53-run stand. Harris was patient in his 41 not out and did have a slice of luck, nicking a ball between first and second slip off Nathan Lyon. But he also played some fluent drives on a surface that had been difficult to score on. Handscomb finished on 26 not out giving Victoria a chance to build a match-winning lead on day three.
Alex Malcolm is an Associate Editor at ESPNcricinfo
Source: ESPN Crickinfo