Sam Konstas made four and Kurtis Patterson eight as NSW slipped to 3-35 at the WACA Ground
Incumbent Test opener Sam Konstas has endured a tough start to his Sheffield Shield campaign, falling for four on the opening day of NSW’s clash with Western Australia.
The NSW opener, who turned 20 this week, lasted 25 deliveries after the Blues were sent in by WA skipper Sam Whiteman.
Teammate Kurtis Patterson was dismissed for eight before rain stopped play on Saturday with NSW in strife at 3-35 at the WACA Ground.
Just 25.1 overs were possible on day one in Perth as persistent showers brought an early stumps at 4.32pm local time after the players had been off the field for more than two hours.
Cameron Green took a sharp chance low down at second slip off Corey Rocchiccioli to dismiss Blake Nikitaras (9) in his first appearance for his state in 18 months.
Konstas came to Perth with a head of steam after a century for Australia A in India.
He survived two lbw appeals, while wicketkeeper Joel Curtis dropped a tough catch off the inside edge diving to his left.
But WA quick Joel Paris was ultimately rewarded for an impressive opening spell when he trapped Konstas lbw and Cameron Gannon had Patterson caught behind.
“We knew that if we put the ball in the right area and made it hard for him and the other batters then we had every chance of getting some wickets,” Paris said at stumps.
“A lot of the balls I tried to move away from Sam and then bring one back into him occasionally.
“Today was one of those days where overhead conditions worked; the wicket here is always a little bit juicy and soft day one so … although we didn’t play a lot today, we certainly felt like we made some inroads.”
Matthew Gilkes (12) and Oliver Davies were the not out batters when play was abandoned for the rest of the day.
Left-armer Paris resumes on Sunday with the impressive figures of 1-1 from eight overs with seven maidens.
“It was really tough to score on a wicket like that, the bounce was a little bit (like a) tennis ball so as a group, we just talk about building pressure from both ends,” Paris said.
“If we do that for long periods of time, sometimes you’re not always going to take wickets consistently throughout the day, but they can happen in clumps.
“If we can continue to build pressure across the whole day and then capitalise and go bang-bang in clumps, then we’ll give ourselves an opportunity to bowl them out for a low total and start chasing some runs down.”
Sheffield Shield 2025-26 standings
Team
Matches played
M
Wins
W
Losses
L
Drawn
D
No results
N/R
Deductions
Ded.
Batting Bonus
Bat
Bowling Bonus
Bowl
Total points
PTS
1
NSW
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
2
QLD
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
3
SA
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
4
TAS
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
5
VIC
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
6
WA
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
Legend
M: Matches played
W: Wins
L: Losses
D: Drawn
N/R: No results
Ded.: Deductions
Bat: Batting Bonus
Bowl: Bowling Bonus
PTS: Total points
