Tigers thwarted by Rohrer and Lalor

Tasmania were thwarted in their push for an outright Sheffield Shield victory over New South Wales in Canberra thanks to a determined stand between the injured Blues captain Ben Rohrer and the young bowler Josh Lalor.

Rohrer, batting at No. 10 due to a side strain suffered earlier in the match, joined Lalor at the wicket with more than 20 overs still to be bowled, but the duo blunted the Tigers' attack to avoid defeat. Rohrer cracked the last three deliveries of the match to the boundary to remain unbeaten on 49. Lalor made 29 as the Blues finished on 8 for 292.

After Ed Cowan and Steven Cazzulino had rattled up a lead of 400 on day three, the Tigers had worked their way through the Blues' batting, held up mainly by a typically doughty contribution from Simon Katich.

The left-arm spinner Xavier Doherty nabbed the important early wickets of the openers Phil Jaques and Nic Maddinson, before Jackson Bird maintained an eye-catching start to his first-class career with a trio of wickets in the middle.