Bulls tail wag again as NSW frustrated

A strong late-order resistance, again featuring Andrew Bichel, has steered Queensland out of trouble on the first day of their Pura Cup clash against New South Wales in Sydney.

After the visitors were struggling at 5-89, Chris Simpson (62), Bichel (39) and Chris Hartley (37) lead a spirited comeback with valuable lower order contributions, as the Bulls yielded a respectable first innings total of 266.

To make the latter half of the day sweeter for Queensland, Bichel snagged the vital scalp of Phil Jaques (2) on the last ball of the day, to leave the Blues sitting on 1-6. Michael Phelps is unbeaten on three.

Relieved from 12th-man duties in the Test Match in Adelaide, Nathan Bracken was unable to emulate his recent good form, though, was able to take 2-63 from 24 overs, including opener Lachlan Stevens and Simpson - the Bulls' highest scorer - later in the innings.

Spearheading the attack was Stuart Clark, who took 3-76, while Matthew Nicholson also flourished early on in the warm conditions with 2-46.

When Stevens was dismissed in the second over of the day, Maher (33) and Martin Love (25) went recovering from the early lapse in concentration, moving the score along to 1-40.

Though, when Love was dismissed, that commenced a mini-collapse, which saw Queensland lose 4-49 to fall to 5-89 shortly after the lunch break.

A brazen innings of 31 by Ashley Noffke guided the Bulls out of a hole, and coupled with reliant innings by Simpson, Bichel and Hartley, the home side were frustrated as Queensland added 114 runs for the final three wickets.

Tomorrow's play will resume from 11:00am.

Full scorecard available here.

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