A courageous and defensive second innings from NSW captain Nic Maddinson has helped his team to a share of the points in their Sheffield Shield match against Western Australia in New Zealand.
NSW looked in trouble when they fell to 4-77 in their second innings early on day four, but an injured Maddinson (26no) combined with Test wicketkeeper Peter Nevill (69) to stabilise the Blues by consuming a painstaking 375 balls between them for their game-saving 75-run partnership.
The Blues were 5/162 and had a lead of 67 when stumps were drawn an hour early.
Maddinson injured his left thumb while fielding on day three but overcame the pain barrier on Saturday, setting out to bat WA out of the match after ODI paceman Joel Paris ripped through the top order in the opening session.
Paris, who claimed the wicket of Blues opener Dan Hughes late on day three, trapped nightwatchman Nathan Lyon (3) early on day four before getting through the defences of Kurtis Patterson (21).
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Nevill and Maddinson then arrived to bat out the entire middle session, only for Paris to then clip Nevill's off stump with the new ball just after tea.
The 23-year-old also forced Ed Cowan to retire from the match on Friday after the former Test opener was collected on the front of the helmet by a rising bouncer.
He was immediately whisked off the field under concussion guidelines.
Paris was the pick of the Warriors bowlers in the second innings with figures of 4-37 off 18 overs with five maidens.
"We got a couple (early) but `Nev' and `Maddo' batted really well for the majority of the game and basically didn't give us a sniff," Paris said.
The draw means NSW remain one spot ahead of the Warriors in fifth.
The fixture was the first Shield match to be played overseas in order to help Test trio Nevill, Lyon and Adam Voges prepare for the upcoming Test series against the Black Caps.
Voges warmed up for the series with 149 in the Warriors' first innings.
"It's great to see Voges in that kind of touch from an Australian perspective. Barely played a false shot," Nevill said.
