Marnus goes large, Bulls bowlers on the charge

As Marnus Labuschagne revealed how an altered grip helped him complete his nine-and-a-half-hour batting masterpiece, so too have Queensland tightened their grasp on the Marsh Sheffield Shield silverware.

Labuschagne pushed on to reach 192 runs, from 353 balls faced, on day three of the Shield decider to help Queensland seize an enormous, 246-run first-innings advantage over New South Wales.

A rampant Bulls attack then sliced through the green Blues batting line-up in an exhilarating final session to have the hosts squarely on track to lift the famous Shield on Sunday when play resumes at the earlier time of 8:54am AEST.

At one stage it appeared they might need only three days to seal a famous victory as Xavier Bartlett (3-31) and Brendan Doggett (2-26) reduced NSW to 5-121, still trailing by 125, with more than an hour of play to come.

Captain Usman Khawaja took a stunning catch in the gully to see the back of key opener Daniel Hughes for 40.

But Baxter Holt (10no) and Sean Abbott (20no) survived to the close of play, which was called early due to bad light, with NSW 5-140.

After adding 32 to his overnight tally of 160, Labuschagne walked off to a standing ovation from the Allan Border Field faithful after batting for 537 minutes across days one, two and three in what he rates as one of the best innings of his career.

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The 26-year-old explained that tweaks made to how he holds the bat made after Australia's 1-2 Test series defeat to India have improved his prowess off the front foot.

"It's something I've been working on coming out of the Test summer against India I felt like I was getting beaten on the inside too much and getting caught on those leg-side fielders," Labuschagne told Fox Cricket.

"I actually changed my grip … When I was hitting my straight drives I was actually slipping off the bat a little bit and I wasn't able to hit those straight drives I was able to (in) this game."

Labuschagne hardly hit a ball in the air and did not offer a single chance until he poked Abbott (4-71) to one of the two waiting gullies during the second session.

Without the benefit of the scoreboard, an onlooker could have mistaken for thinking Labuschagne had made a duck rather than the fourth highest score ever made in a Shield final, such was his disappointment.

He eventually allowed himself to soak up the applause from the 2500-strong crowd that didn't stop until he had made his way all the way off the ground.

"That ovation is one of the best I've ever received," Labuschagne told Fox Cricket. "That was very special and one I will remember.

"In terms of the crowd, because (AB Field) is such a small ground, it feels like it is on top of you and it feels like the crowd is out there with you.

"The Queensland crowd have come in numbers and it's so special to see everyone come out for a Shield final. It was very special to do it in front of a home crowd." 

Queensland's bowlers backed up Labuschagne with another relentless bowling display as NSW's top three, admirably attempting to stay in the hunt with an aggressive approach, all departed to catches behind the wicket.

After Khawaja's tremendous gully catch before tea, Doggett snagged his first two scalps of the game in a challenging afternoon spell, having skipper Kurtis Patterson (13) and opener Matthew Gilkes (37) caught in the slips flashing at wider deliveries.

Jason Sangha and Jack Edwards were then out in consecutive Bartlett overs in identical fashion, both right-handers getting trapped on the crease by balls that kept low and seamed back in towards them.

If NSW hoped Labuschagne might have a smaller appetite for the contest than he did the previous day, they would have been dispirited to see his boundless energy had not deserted him despite batting the entire preceding day.

Before NSW had begun their morning stretches, Labuschagne had already a hit in the nets before he re-lived his (still unfinished) knock out on the pitch for an engrossing Fox Cricket segment. He then competed in Queensland's warm-up hand volleyball game, all the while wearing his batting pads.

When he actually got out to the middle to resume his innings, the closest he came to a misstep in the morning session was Jack Wildermuth leaving him for dead on an impossible quick single.

Jason Sangha could only smile after missing the striker's end stumps with the dominant batter metres short of his ground.

Matthew Renshaw (34 off 133), Jimmy Peirson (36 off 59) and Wildermuth (15 off 28) all made handy contributions as Labuschagne continued what seemed an inevitable march towards a double-ton.

But Abbott, who delivered a marathon 10-over spell broken up only by the lunch break and a change of ends, finally enticed Labuschagne into a lapse in judgment.

His dismissal was sandwiched by another five either side of the first interval that saw the Bulls lose 6-38 in an admirable fightback from the tireless NSW attack, with Abbott taking four of the last five wickets while Lyon finished 3-116 from his 41 overs.

Queensland XI: Bryce Street, Joe Burns, Marnus Labuschagne, Usman Khawaja (c), Matthew Renshaw, Jimmy Peirson (wk), Jack Wildermuth, Michael Neser, Xavier Bartlett, Mitch Swepson, Brendan Doggett

NSW XI: Daniel Hughes, Matthew Gilkes, Kurtis Patterson (c), Jason Sangha, Jack Edwards, Sean Abbott, Baxter Holt (wk), Mitchell Starc, Trent Copeland, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood

2021 Marsh Sheffield Shield final

Queensland squad: Usman Khawaja (c), Xavier Bartlett, Joe Burns, Brendan Doggett, Marnus Labuschagne, Michael Neser, Jimmy Peirson, Matthew Renshaw, Billy Stanlake, Bryce Street, Mitchell Swepson, Jack Wildermuth

NSW squad: Sean Abbott, Harry Conway, Trent Copeland, Jack Edwards, Matthew Gilkes, Josh Hazlewood, Lachlan Hearne, Baxter Holt, Daniel Hughes, Nathan Lyon, Peter Nevill, Kurtis Patterson, Jason Sangha, Tanveer Sangha, Mitchell Starc

The 2021 Marsh Sheffield Shield final will be broadcast LIVE in Australia on Foxtel & Kayo Sports. ABC Grandstand's live radio coverage will also be available on cricket.com.au & the CA Live app. Viewers in NZ can watch via Sky Sport, while fans in other countries can stream via Facebook HERE