New South Wales 394 (Patterson 71, Maddinson 69, Davies 56, McAndrew 4-90) won South Australia 110 (Hunt 30, Bird 7-46) and 283 (Lehmann 100, Kelly 59, Edwards 4-41, Bird 4-65) for one inning and 1 run
After claiming seven wickets in the first innings to bowl out the hosts for 110, Bird was again a problem with a four-wicket haul in the second innings at the Karen Rolton Oval in Adelaide.
Despite the best efforts of Jake Lehmann, who scored his 11th first-class century, South Australia could not do enough to get New South Wales back into batting.
It was the sixth 10-wicket haul for Bird in a long and winding first-class career.
Bird’s previous five-wicket haul before rocking South Australia on Thursday was in March 2021, when he scored 7-18 against the Blues while playing for Tasmania.
South Australia entered the match having beaten NSW in the one-day cup match on Tuesday, and were previously unbeaten in the Shield. But without test manager Alex Carey, who is preparing for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, SA suffered a harsh reality check as they lost in three days to a rising team.
Dropped from NSW’s Sheffield Shield team for most of last summer and fearing his career could be over, Patterson scored three consecutive half-centuries.
