Skipper Pierson leads Queensland fightback against NSW

| February 22, 2023

Queensland skipper Jimmy Peirson has turned around a poor run of form with a defiant unbeaten century to keep his side in touch with NSW in their Sheffield Shield match at the Gabba.

The home side ended the day on 8-281, just 39 runs shy of NSW’s 320.

Thanks to Peirson’s 115 not out, Queensland recovered from a precarious 6-102 to prevent NSW collecting a potentially match-winning lead in the first innings.

Peirson, who had failed to reach double figures in his past six innings across all forms of the game, struck 13 boundaries in reaching his sixth first-class century.

Peirson found a valuable ally in Xavier Bartlett (32) with the pair adding 91 for the eighth wicket.

Mark Steketee added further lower-order resistance to end the day on 27 not out.

NSW seamer Sean Abbott did the early damage with two wickets in the first session as Queensland limped to 4-51 at the conclusion of a rain-impacted opening session.

Max Bryant (40) offered the strongest resistance from Queensland’s top-order with a quickfire 40, but his dismissal – bowled after shouldering arms – was emblematic of Queensland’s early fortunes.

Abbott knocked over Jack Wildermuth after the break for seven and ended the day with 3-63.

Earlier, NSW, who were nine wickets down overnight, added nine runs to their overnight tally to post 320 in their first innings.  

The winless NSW need a victory at the Gabba to avoid a record winless streak, while Queensland started the match in a four-way share of second.