Back-to-back tonnes, including a career-high 152 against Western Australia, has capped off a sterling week for Daniel Hughes in the Marsh Cup as he turns his attention to the Sheffield Shield.
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While NSW remain second from the bottom in the competition, the scores, both of which, in an odd fixturing quirk, came at Drummoyne Oval against the Warriors, were crucial in helping the Blues find some form in the limited overs competition.
The first knock, an unbeaten 112 that included 12 fours, in a rain-affected match last Monday, wasn't enough to get the Blues over the line, the WA side holding on to win by eight runs in part thanks to the Duckworth-Lewis Method.
But it set the template for what was to follow later in the week, with the locally born-and-bred left-hander unleashing his full bag of tricks, hitting 13 fours and four sixes to post the second highest score of the tournament so far.
It put the Blues in a dominant position, as they bowled Western Australia all out by the 45th over to win by 77 runs and claim their first win of the 2019-20 season.
Other NSW players to perform strongly in the win included Moises Henriques, who scored 67, while youngster Matthew Gilkes hit a quick-fire 82 from 51 balls in his second List A match.
For the bowlers, Harry Conway led the way with 3/30 and an impressive economy of 3.75, while recent visitor to Cowra, Arjun Nair, took 3/59 from his 10 overs.
With the second highest average of the tournament, albeit from a limited sample base, with most players only turning out for two to four matches so far, Hughes has put himself in some elite company.
Players like Australian one day skipper Aaron Finch, Usman Khawaja, Travis Head and D'arcy Short have all had strong starts to the year as well, with those players each having done time within various Australian national set-ups.
It suggests that if the 30-year-old keeps his form up, he may well find himself in conversations regarding national selection sooner rather than later.
The Sheffield Shield begins on Thursday, with the Blues heading up to the Gabba to take on Queensland.
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