Stubborn Tasmania within sight of victory

Tasmania 252 and 6 for 140 need another 41 runs to beat South Australia 232 and 200 (Hilfenhaus 5-53)
Scorecard

Tim Paine and Brett Geeves staged a terrific fightback to put Tasmania within sight of victory after their top order crumbled in a chase of 181 at Bellerive Oval. At stumps on the third day the Tigers were 41 short of their target and were 6 for 140 with Paine on 46 and Geeves on 33.

The pair had added 64 for the seventh wicket and it was a much-needed stand after Tasmania fell to 6 for 76. Peter George, the debutant South Australia fast bowler who claimed four first-innings wickets, continued to impress by removing both openers within his first spell.

Mark Cleary, Shaun Tait and Allan Wise all chipped in with breakthroughs and it was beginning to look like the Redbacks' second-innings effort of 200 might have been enough. They had struggled against the swing of Ben Hilfenhaus, who collected 5 for 53 in the first Hobart match of the summer.

South Australia had resumed at 3 for 92 and they battled to put together a threatening partnership. Daniel Harris (47) added ten to his overnight total before he was bowled by Hilfenhaus, who also collected Callum Ferguson for 30. Hilfenhaus returned to clean up the tail and he will be hoping his batting is not required on the fourth day as his lower-order colleagues aim to wrap the match up quickly.