Bulls wear down Blues' resistance for vital Shield win

Queensland's quicks were made to toil for a much-needed 188-run Sheffield Shield victory that appeared inevitable before some NSW resistance at the Gabba.

Set a 418-run victory target, a successful chase was never on the radar as the Blues sunk to 5-66 on Tuesday thanks to more disciplined pace bowling from the hosts.

But the Blues showed fight, wicketkeeper Josh Philippe (80) and allrounder Jack Edwards (53) backing up his first-innings century to keep alive hopes of a draw.

Opening pair Xavier Bartlett (2-39) and Michael Neser (3-72) would not be denied though, the pair striking in quick succession to leave them plenty of time to mop up the tail midway through the final session.

Earlier Sam Konstas (22) tried all of his tricks to outwit the Bulls' new-ball pair, only to edge one of the first deliveries he faced from good mate and second-change quick Tom Straker (2-17 off 12 overs).

Straker did the early damage for the Bulls before Mark Steketee (2-41) and captain Mitchell Swepson (1-43) ran through the middle order to leave the Blues in disarray.

It was the Bulls' second Shield win, the side keeping pace on a stacked ladder with three matches still to play.

Sheffield Shield standings 2024-25

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 South Australia Men SA	10	6	1	3	0	0	7.61	9	55.61
2 Queensland Bulls QLD	10	3	3	4	0	0	9.06	8.7	39.76
3 Victoria Men VIC	10	4	5	1	0	0	5.19	9.3	39.49
4 NSW Men NSW	10	3	4	3	0	0	6.99	8.4	36.39
5 Tasmanian Tigers Men TAS	10	3	5	2	0	0	7.72	8.2	35.92
6 Western Australia Men WA	10	3	4	3	0	0	5.83	8.6	35.43

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