New South Wales 309 (Cowan 69, Hughes 69, Henriques 50, Behrendorff 4-70) and 1 for 6 need another 397 runs to beat Western Australia 9 for 436 dec and 4 for 275 dec (Cartwright 170*, Copeland 3-72)
Scorecard

Hilton Cartwright plundered an unbeaten 170 at nearly a run a ball to give Western Australia a fighting chance of jumping from fifth place on the Sheffield Shield table into the final against Victoria.

Cartwright's innings was key to the Warriors setting New South Wales a hefty target of 403 at the WACA in what is a must-win game for both sides. By stumps, the Blues had already lost Nic Maddinson, who was bowled by David Moody for 4, and after only two overs of their innings New South Wales were 1 for 6.

The day started with New South Wales at 5 for 242 in their first innings, but they lost their final five wickets for 67 runs and were dismissed for 309, with Jason Behrendorff collecting 4 for 70. That left the Warriors with a 127-run first-innings advantage, but they needed to use their second innings to set up a result in order to have any chance of reaching the tournament decider.

Trent Copeland claimed both openers cheaply, but Cartwright then set about producing his highest first-class score to lift Western Australia to 4 for 275 before Adam Voges made the declaration. Cartwright struck 16 fours and five sixes in his 173-ball innings and by the day's close he was second on the Shield run tally for this season, with 861 at 53.81, behind only Ed Cowan.