The NSW Blues trail Tasmania by 11 runs after finishing day two of their Bupa Sheffield Shield match at Bankstown Oval on 7-226 (March 6).
Starting the day on 0-4, NSW added 62 runs during a tough opening session with Ryan Carters (28) dismissed 15 minutes before lunch.
Though honours were shared during the opening two hours of play, the second session belonged to Tasmania with NSW losing five wickets while adding 78 runs to the score.
Kurtis Patterson (3) was the first to go after lunch, stumped by Tim Paine from the bowling of Clive Rose.
Andrew Fekete then got in on the action with two quick wickets, trapping Nic Maddinson (19) then bowling Ben Rohrer (3).
Not out overnight, Scott Henry (47) had been the rock of the NSW innings thus far however he came undone when a ball from Jackson Bird beat his bat and cannoned into his off-stump.
Bird then had Sean Abbott (0) lbw the very next ball after the young all-rounder played across a straight delivery.
The NSW fight-back was spearheaded by Peter Nevill and Stephen O’Keefe.
Through a combination of deft stroke-play, smart running and a little bit of luck the pair added 94 runs for the seventh wicket before Nevill (39) was well caught by Jordan Silk at mid-off after trying to hit Clive Rose over the in-field.
O’Keefe went on to register his half-century just before stumps. He faced 142 balls during his determined knock and hit six boundaries.
He finished the day unbeaten on 53 with Gurinder Sandhu (10) the other not out batsman.
