Warner golden duck, Hughes to rescue

NEW South Wales survived a top-order collapse as the Blues’ lesser lights did the job for a five-wicket victory to deny Queensland an unlikely Sheffield Shield triumph at the Gabba yesterday.

Opener Daniel Hughes steered NSW over the line with his gritty half-century helping the Blues home just after tea on the fourth and final day of a rain-affected contest in Brisbane.

Chasing just 134 to win, NSW was reduced to 5- 53 before Hughes (66 not out) and captain Peter Nevill (31 not out) steadied the ship with an unbroken 81-run partnership on a challenging Gabba batting wicket.

David Warner was sensationally out to the first ball of the innings, while Test teammate Steve Smith, who was out for a duck in the first innings, looked in good touch before he fell for 21.

Unused Ashes tourist Michael Neser (3-42) was the primary destroyer for Queensland, taking the first three scalps as NSW lost 4-25.

Queensland resumed at its overnight 5-186, but quickly lost Ashes hero Marnus Labuschagne for 52, soon after posting his second half-century of the match, and then wicketkeeper Jimmy Peirson was on his way for 33.

Test paceman Mitchell Starc (1-87), who only played one Test in the Ashes series, collected the crucial wicket of Labuschagne, but it was an otherwise fruitless match for the left-armer. In contrast, Harry Conway starred with the ball for NSW, returning figures of 5-39 off 17.5 overs, and collecting a maiden firstclass 10-wicket haul.