Marsh and Paine steal victory for Tasmania

Tasmania 127 & 7 for 221 (Paine 59*, Marsh 58, Bracken 3-41) beat New South Wales 172 & 173 by 3 wickets
Scorecard

Half-centuries to Dan Marsh and Tim Paine transformed Tasmania's position from hopeless to victorious as they upset New South Wales by three wickets. The Blues had controlled the low-scoring match since dismissing the hosts for 127 on the second day, but a superb chase allowed the Tigers to sneak home, with Paine's two boundaries off Moises Henriques sealing the stunning comeback.

The debutant opener Jonathan Wells held the innings together as his first four partners managed only 14 between them and left the hosts at 4 for 55. Tim Macdonald, the nightwatchman, did stay for the first hour on the third morning before falling lbw to Henriques for 6 while Dane Anderson became the 12th duck of the match, equalling the record for a Sheffield Shield game.

Tasmania were still in trouble when Wells left for 46, but the captain Marsh stepped in with a crucial half-century and received valuable assistance from Paine. The pair put on 82 before Marsh was out for 58, cutting Steven Smith to Dominic Thornely in the gully. Another 47 were still needed when Paine was joined by Luke Butterworth, who was lbw for 16, but the wicketkeeper could not be removed and was 59 when he scored the winning runs.

Nathan Bracken started with three of the first five wickets while Doug Bollinger chipped in with two. The Blues remain last on four points after five games while Tasmania are third with Western Australia on 12.