(REUTERS) – New South Wales won the Sheffield Shield for the 46th time after the final of the first class state championship ended in a draw halfway through day five at Canberra’s Manuka Oval

Needing only a draw to claim the title for the first time since 2008 after topping the regular season standings, New South Wales were almost assured of their goal when rain wiped out all but an hour of Monday’s day four.
The Blues, who were forced to move the final because the Sydney Cricket Ground hosted the Major League Baseball season-openers at the weekend, had in any case totally dominated the match.
All-rounder Moises Henriques scored 140 to lead them to 447 in their first innings and paceman Josh Hazlewood took six for 50 to restrict Western Australia to 180 in reply.
Skipper Steve Smith’s unbeaten 103 had taken New South Wales to 197 for four in their second innings and an overall lead of 464 when the teams agreed to bring an end to play yesterday.
Western Australia, known this season as a result of sponsorship as the “Alcohol. Think Again Warriors”, were looking to win the Shield for the first time in 15 years.
Their former Test batsman Marcus North, who scored 886 runs at an average of 63.28 and took 13 wickets with his off-spin over the championship, had already been named Player-of-the-Year.