At the Adelaide Oval, hosts South Australia won the toss on Friday and elected to bowl, sending the Blues and Gilkes, who has already made his Marsh One-Day Cup debut this summer, to the crease.

Unfortunately, Gilkes, who became the 752nd player to wear the baggy blue cap, was dismissed for a duck - after facing 21 deliveries.

Fellow debutant Daniel Solway had no such trouble, going on to post 133 not out, as the Blues reached 289 in their first innings.

Peter Nevill (53), Nathan Lyon (31) and Moises Henriques (30) also made starts for the visitors, as Chadd Sayers ripped through the Blues' line-up, taking 8/64 from his 27.3 overs.

In reply, South Australia was all out for 245 in the 101st over.

Test hopeful Travis Head top-scored with 109 from 214 balls, while Tom Cooper batted strongly for his 37.

Related content: Gilkes makes his NSW Sheffield Shield debut

With the ball, Harry Conway (3/55) and Trent Copeland (3/67) both claimed three scalps for the Blues, as Lyon finished with 2/45.

The final two scalps were taken by Henriques (1/11) and Hazlewood (1/60).

Going into their second innings, the visitors held a 44-run advantage - one they quickly built on.

Opener Nick Larkin blasted 91 before middle-order batsmen Henriques and Gilkes contributed 38 and 30 respectively.

Related content: Gilkes strikes new two-year with Sydney Thunder

Nevill's 29 then steered NSW to 253 in their second dig - giving them a lead of 297 runs.

Sayers added another five wickets (5/67) to his tally, giving him 13 for the match.

The other five wickets were shared between Wes Agar (2/45), Luke Robons (2/49) and Nick Winter (1/50).

Despite a courageous 77 from Cooper, the hosts were all out for 201 in the 68th over, thanks to Hazlewood's 6/35 and Copeland's 3/50.

The final wicket, in the 96-run win, was taken by Lyon (1/50).

NSW's next Shield game is from November 11-14 against Western Australia at the SCG.