Maddinson century has Blues well placed

A determined century from Nic Maddinson has given NSW a first-innings lead over Queensland but they face having to finish the job without injured captain Moises Henriques.

After a lean opening to the Sheffield Shield season which has yielded just 33 runs from three innings, Maddinson admitted he was under pressure but quieted his critics on Saturday with 121 from 151 balls.

His ton put NSW on top at 6-272 at stumps on day two, leading the Bulls by 13 runs.

After losing Ryan Carters (6) and Kurtis Patterson (14) early on, in-form opener Ed Cowan (90) and Maddinson put on 135 for the third wicket.

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Cowan, who is averaging 74.25 for the Shield season, looked to be heading for his second century in four matches before falling to a screamer of a catch from Marcus Labuschagne at cover.

With Maddinson in control, the home side looked to be cruising at 4-263 before he was caught behind going after a Jack Wildermuth bouncer late in the day.

Sean Abbott (0) followed him back to the pavilion two balls later and with Henriques' participation in the rest of the match clouded, the contest was suddenly back in the balance.

"I've scored maybe 30 runs in my last three games of Shield cricket so I thought I had something to prove," Maddinson said.

"I thought I had to earn my position back in the team to be batting at number four.

"After missing out the last couple of weeks to a few soft dismissals, I was quite determined today to really put my head down."

The Blues will resume with Jay Lenton (15no) and Stephen O'Keefe (5no) at the crease but have a looming headache over the fitness of allrounder Henriques.

He left the field with a left calf injury during Queensland's innings in the morning session after pulling up during his run up and was unable to complete his over.

He was listed to come in at No.5 but Ben Rohrer and Jay Lenton went in ahead of him.

He will have scans on Sunday and his involvement in the rest of the game is clouded.

Veteran James Hopes was Queensland's best bowler, taking 3-42.

After resuming at 6-221, the Bulls were all out for 259 after NSW cleaned up their tail in the first session.

The Blues regained the ascendancy when dangerman Jason Floros (82) was run out off a great Cowan throw after adding just 10 to his overnight score.

The Bulls' innings came to an end when Hopes (6) was dismissed by Stephen O'Keefe who finished with 3-56 after being left out of the Australian XI for the Adelaide Test.

Abbott was also excellent with two key top-order wickets, finishing with 2-52.