Another Carters ton sets up NSW victory

New South Wales 264 and 4 for 255 (Carters 100, Henry 76*, Rainbird 3-52) beat Tasmania 354 and 164 by 6 wickets
Scorecard

New South Wales opener Ryan Carters continued his strong start to the season with another century that set up victory for the Blues on the final day against Tasmania in Hobart. Chasing 255, New South Wales reached their target with only four wickets down, with Scott Henry (76 not out) steering the chase after the departure of Carters, although it was captain Peter Nevill (16 not out) who struck the winning run.

It was quite a turnaround for the Blues after they conceded first-innings points by falling 90 runs short of Tasmania's total, but by restricting the Tigers in the second innings they allowed themselves a realistic chase. New South Wales resumed on the final morning on 0 for 43, and added a further 40 runs before the opening stand was broken when Nic Maddinson was caught at mid-off from the bowling of Luke Butterworth for 43.

But Carters and Henry put the result beyond doubt with a 138-run partnership that ended when Carters, on 100, was lbw to Sam Rainbird (3 for 52). It was the second first-class hundred for Carters in the past two matches - he had not made one at the start of the season - and his summer also included 94 against the touring England side for a Cricket Australia Invitational XI last month.

Carters finished the match on top of New South Wales' Sheffield Shield run tally so far this season, with 409 at 81.80. Rainbird was on a hat-trick after he bowled Ben Rohrer for a golden duck next ball after Carters was dismissed, and while he did not claim three from three balls, he did pick up the wicket of Kurtis Patterson for 4 before Henry and Nevill finished the chase.