It was a day of mixed fortunes for New South Wales on day one of the important Pura Cup match against Queensland here at the Sydney Cricket Ground today.

After a slow and shaky start, the Blues cranked up the run scoring in the afternoon, thanks to a superb second wicket partnership between Michael Bevan (111) and Greg Mail (71), who together built a solid stand of 174 runs off 389 balls. In the process, they lifted the Blues out of the doldrums and helped their side to the more than respectable scoreline of 4/287 by the end of the day.

The innings did not get off to an auspicious start After captain Shane Lee had won the toss and decided that his team would bat, the Blues lost Brett van Deinsen (1) to Adam Dale's first ball of the match. Things always looked awkward from that point until lunch. Bevan and Mail were cautious and batted in uninspiring fashion. Both concentrated on survival and sturdy defence; there was accordingly a lack of flair in their strokeplay and, at times, both looked very heavy-footed.

By lunch, the Blues had crawled to 1/46 and it looked as though it was going to be a very slow day's cricket. Thankfully, looks can sometimes be deceptive and the new session brought with it a totally new attitude.

The first fifty runs of the innings were accumulated off 179 balls. But matters soon changed; the second half century came in ninety balls and the third was struck off just seventy-six.

Within minutes of taking the field after lunch, they launched an assault on the scoreboard, helping themselves to fifty-three runs from the first sixteen overs upon the resumption. The Bulls were suddenly struggling to contain the flow of runs and, for one of the few times in recent memory in first-class cricket, their game began to unravel. Bevan was dropped by Jimmy Maher from the very next delivery after he had registered a half century of his own.

True to lore, he punished the Queenslanders for the error in an innings that spanned 197 deliveries and was punctuated by ten fours and three sixes. He looked a touch unlucky to fall to a low catch at mid on by Scott O'Leary; even exhaustive television replays failing to fully eliminate doubt about the complete validity of the dismissal.

Mail lived through a close call that almost saw him run out in the thirty-sixth over but was eventually trapped on his crease by a quick delivery from Andy Bichel in the day's final session.

Michael Clarke (0) came in and promptly fell to a beautiful darting ball from Dale that pitched just outside leg stump, straightened, and ensured that his stay was neither long nor productive.

Upon Clarke's downfall, Mark Higgs (60*) patiently took twenty-two balls to open his account, but celebrated breaking the shackles in style by blasting a four through the covers. It was the start of an enjoyable exhibition which netted the powerful batsman a maiden first-class fifty against the gloomy backdrop of rain clouds which were gathering to the east.

Spectators waiting for one-day international star Andrew Symonds to take the ball were finally rewarded at the end of the day - albeit with only five overs remaining. It seemed that Bulls captain Stuart Law was going to persist with the exclusive use of his four specialist bowlers, - Bichel, Dale, Joe Dawes and O'Leary - and to pin his hopes on the three pacemen and the off spinner to do the job.

Symonds, in his three overs, conceded six runs and was not particularly inspiring. But, given the Bulls' relative lack of success in the field today, it might well be that he sees more action at the bowling crease tomorrow.

By the end of the day, New South Wales had clearly assumed the honours, albeit that Lee might well need to make a delicate decision as to how long he extends the innings

The Queenslanders, on the other hand, will need to produce some more penetration tomorrow if they are to successfully go about preserving top spot on the Pura Cup table and limit some of the damage that Bevan, Mail and Higgs wrought upon them today.

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