After the polished batting which led the Bush Blues to 6-275 and a thumping win over Western Australia on the opening day of the Australian Country Championships, NSW scratched their way to all out 193 in the 48^th over.

It proved enough, although Victoria were well in the hunt needing 64 off 78 with six wickets in hand, before being bowled out for 153, remarkably still with 37 balls left wasted.

“It’s a relief, we dodged a bullet for sure,” Cook said.

“We didn’t really bat very well, whereas on day one, we didn’t field all that well.

“We thought it was a 230 pitch, but even though we dropped a few catches, the boys lifted when we needed and got the job done.”

Medium-pacer Joe Price came up with three crucial lower order wickets, as the Victorians wobbled with victory in sight.

Newcastle’s Nick Foster was the pick of the bowlers, finishing with 3-26 off 10 overs, as left-arm orthodox Ben Mitchell ended with tidy figures of 9.5 overs, 1-20. 

“Spin is important for us, we thought we might have an advantage there when we picked three spinners in the squad,” he said. 

“We decided to pick the extra spinner (against Victoria) and it played a role in winning. I would have liked a few more on the board though.”

Experienced batsman Pat Darwen was the backbone of the NSW innings with 76, before falling to Tom Matheson, who took 5-35 from 8.2 overs. After scoring a century in the win over WA, No.3 Jon Nicoll went on 19, while Berry’s Kieran Gray missed out again, caught leg before for four.

Victorian duo Michael Allen (50) and Lee Stockdale (33) led the reply. 

But when Stockdale fell, the rot set in, losing 6-22. 

Elsewhere, Queensland Country remain the carnival’s only other unbeaten team, but only after a huge scare against Western Australia. Chasing 140 at King George Oval, Queensland were 3-6, featuring ducks to openers Gerard Fox and Sean Danaher, as well as No.4 Ben O’Connell. 

But captain Tony Hampson launched the fightback, finishing unbeaten on 66, adding to his 49 not out on day one against East Asia Pacific.

Sean Fitzsimmons was 27 not out, as Queensland won by five wickets, with three overs to spare. 

In the other match, South Australia bounced back from a last-over loss to Victoria, with an eight-wicket win over East Asia Pacific.