Patterson's century cements New South Wales' dominant day

Undoubtedly noticed by Australia's selectors, the trio of batters made significant contributions as they cashed in on an uncharacteristically sedate WACA surface. All eyes were initially on Davies after his remarkable 253 off 225 balls against Tasmania that has lifted him into Test discussions.

Patterson anchored the innings through the afternoon to finish 117 not out off 209 balls and he combined well late in the day with stand-in skipper Lachlan Shaw, who threw the bat at the second new ball as NSW sought quick runs before the 100-over mark.

Patterson remains a batter of significant interest for the national hierarchy as he strives to return to international cricket having averaged 144 from his only two Tests against Sri Lanka in 2019.

"Certainly the ambition's still there," he said. "I had a good chat with George [Bailey] maybe a month ago and there wasn't much to report to be honest. It's just scoring runs and hopefully scoring at the right time, and you never know."

WA's attack lacked bite, with quick Kieran Elliott unable to find rhythm after impressing in their tense two-wicket win against Queensland having crossed over from Tasmania in the off-season.

New skipper Aaron Hardie returned to bowling late in the day having started the season as a specialist batter while he managed a knee issue, which ruled him out of Australia A's recent tour of India.

For the first time since the 2024-25 season, WA did not win a toss at home after the coin landed in the favour of Shaw who is leading NSW for the first time following Nic Maddinson's call up to South Africa.

Shaw elected to bat, which led to eyebrows being raised from the rusted on fans in the terraces with October 2023 being the last time such a decision was made for a Shield match at the ground.

Shaw was vindicated with little hint of the sideways movement and variable bounce often evident early in Shield matches at the WACA.

Davies' confidence was obvious from the get go as he drove superbly down the ground to rattle Richardson and Paris, who combined for 10 wickets against Queensland. But they weren't pinpoint accurate as usual and Davies pounced on width to score at better than a run-a-ball rate.

It wasn't all ultra-aggression with Davies smartly working the gaps for singles, dominating the strike to score 37 of NSW's first 40 runs. Konstas didn't seem to mind being overshadowed, taking his time to settle before collecting his first boundary more than 30 minutes into the day's play.

Davies had the better of a flagging Paris, who had a long opening spell, and he soon waved his bat to his appreciative teammates after notching his half-century off 48 balls.

A returning Richardson was left frustrated when Konstas on 12 was dropped by Cameron Bancroft at second slip, but his mood improved when he had Davies holing out to fine-leg.

WA's spirits sank just before the lunch break when offspinner Corey Rocchiccioli dropped a fierce return catch on his first delivery to reprieve Konstas on 27. Konstas made him pay as he flourished after the interval to reach his half-century off 95 balls.

He smashed consecutive boundaries off Richardson, who limped off the field after feeling proppy but did return in a relief given his injury history.

Konstas appeared set for a fifth first-class century until miscuing a short ball from left-arm quick Liam Haskett that skied high in the air and was easily taken by wicketkeeper Joel Curtis. After the earlier fireworks, the game slowed considerably in the backend of the day with WA focusing on bowling tightly.

But wickets proved elusive other than Jack Edwards edging Richardson to first slip just after tea. Patterson remained unruffled and celebrated his 16th first-class ton with gusto as the shadows creeped onto the field.