A jittery New South Wales have survived a near second-innings meltdown to claim a three-wicket Sheffield Shield win over Western Australia.
Needing 93 runs to win with 10 wickets in hand on the fourth and final day, the Blues were given frights both sides of lunch before sealing back-to-back victories to open their Shield season.
They overcame the second 10-wicket haul of former Test prodigy Ashton Agar's career, six of his scalps coming on a rapidly deteriorating SCG wicket.
However Blues captain Moises Henriques blamed a poor first innings total from his batsmen instead of their near-fatal day-four crumble.
"We knew fourth day that wicket was going to be very hard to bat, especially against the spin bowling," Henriques said afterwards.
"I don't think what happened today was a great indication of how the game panned out. I thought we should've scored more runs in the first innings when we were 4-240 at one stage.
"We knew it was always going to be hard today but it was our first innings batting that let us down if anything."
Nerves began to creep in for the hosts when nightwatchman Will Somerville (23) and Dan Hughes (13) fell in the space of three deliveries and 60 runs from a win.
Those nerves turned to jelly when they lost Kurtis Patterson (13) and Ed Cowan (25) just before lunch and then first-innings centurion Nic Maddinson was trapped for a duck upon resumption.
Frustration would've turned to fear after Agar did the same to debutant Ryan Gibson (5) and had Henriques caught at close range for eight, however the Blues held on.
It took paceman Trent Copeland to hit a two off Agar to finish the job.
Agar's four second-innings wickets meant he finished with match figures of 10-141 in a game where 28 of the 37 wickets were taken by tweakers.
NSW duo Stephen O'Keefe and Will Somerville took advantage of a surprisingly dry track to lay the foundation for the win on day one, despite WA winning the toss and opting to bat.
In front of Test selector Mark Waugh, O'Keefe cemented his status as the nation's No.2 spinner with his first five-wicket haul at the Moore Park venue, finishing with match figures of 8-106.
Somerville did one better, dominating day three with a career-best 9-126.
Maddinson also did his part to help back-up the team's win over the Reds last week, crafting out the game's only century in a patient knock of 116 on day two.
The Blues are back at home to host the Bushrangers, while the Warriors return to Perth and face Tasmania, both beginning on November 17.
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