By Justin Chadwick
A freak concussion was followed by a disastrous batting collapse as NSW went from bad to worse in their Sheffield Shield clash with Western Australia at the WACA Ground.
Blues vice-captain Jason Sangha was ruled out before play resumed on day three after being concussed during the warm-up.
Jason Sangha of New South Wales looks on from the players rooms after being substituted due to concussion protocols during the Sheffield Shield match between Western Australia and New South Wales at the WACACredit:Paul Kane/Getty Images
NSW moved to a steady 0-48 in their second innings on Wednesday, but a collapse of 4-16 left them reeling at 4-64 at lunch on day three, still needing a further 14 runs to make WA bat again.
Allrounder Aaron Hardie (2-18), first-innings destroyer Lance Morris (1-22) and Matt Kelly (1-19) shared the wickets as NSW fell in a heap.
Blake Nikitaras (25 off 69 balls) was the first to fall when he was deemed to have edged Hardie behind, but the NSW opener clearly disagreed with the decision.
Fellow opener Daniel Hughes (17) fell four balls later to a vicious Morris bouncer.
Kurtis Patterson, who scored an unbeaten 72 in NSW’s first innings of 180, became Hardie’s second victim with an edge behind.
And the carnage continued when Moises Henriques (7) fell in the final over before lunch.
Matthew Gilkes, who was the concussion replacement for Sangha, is unbeaten on one and faces a daunting rescue mission.
Details of exactly how Sangha was concussed remain unclear.
The 23-year-old made 21 in NSW’s total of 180 on Monday and he took a spectacular catch at slip to dismiss Josh Philippe on Tuesday.
Sangha finished with three catches as WA were bowled out for 258, giving the home side a first-innings lead of 78.
WA teenager Teague Wyllie was the hero of day two, scoring 104 off 204 balls.
At 18 years and 163 days, Wyllie is the youngest player to reach triple figures in Shield cricket since Ricky Ponting, who was 18 years and 40 days when he notched his maiden ton in the competition.
