The rain arrived about an hour too late to save Victoria here today as New South Wales scored outright points in their Pura Cup cricket match at Punt Rd.

The Blues finished on 3-117, chasing 115, thanks to a brisk 76-run stand between Test opener Michael Slater (58no) and Mark Higgs (32no) which rescued them from a shaky 3-41.

Higgs scored the winning boundary under grey skies, about an hour before steady showers again returned.

It was NSW's second outright win of the summer, while the result left Victoria with no wins from three four-day and four one-day games so far this season and bottom place on the two competition tables.

"I thought it (the weather) might have played a bit more of a part this afternoon, I was expecting a couple more showers," said NSW captain Shane Lee.

"We just had to go out there and try to play positively, but not too aggressively and throw too many wickets away - I was happy with the way it turned out."

More than an hour's play was lost earlier today because of the rain, which caused several stoppages through the weekend.

The grey weather matched the mood in the Victorian changerooms, where captain Matthew Elliott offered no excuses for his side's poor form.

He praised NSW, saying the Blues had out-bowled and out-batted his lineup, and added "you don't need to be Einstein" to work out the Bushrangers needed some match points quickly.

But Elliott also stressed there was no point in last season's Pura Cup runner-up panicking, saying the side had to concentrate on ball-by-ball play rather than trying to win again.

In particular, he said Victoria had to hold more catches - Slater's let-off when he was three today was a particularly costly miss.

"I don't know how much longer you can keep saying you're on the verge of it (good form) if it doesn't happen for you," he said.

"We have played a bit of cricket (this season) and guys have really got to stand up....we just don't seem to have the spark we had in past years."

Victoria resumed on 4-69 this morning and reached 193, with Ian Harvey making 48 and Elliott, batting at No.7 because of a stomach virus over the last three days, reaching a top score of 50.

Once again, no Victorian could build a big score after making a start.

Opening bowler Stuart Clark snared 5-47, his second five-wicket bag of the season, while Stuart MacGill's 4-54 gave him 8-125 for the match.

Damien Fleming (3-34) gave Victoria a sniff of at least holding NSW until the rain returned when he picked up first-innings century makers Michael Bevan (10) and man-of-the-match Michael Clarke (second-ball duck) within three balls of his ninth over.

But Slater and Higgs then combined to take the match to the fairest conclusion, given the Blues' domination over the four days.

© 2001 AAP