Abbott gives NSW victory chance

New South Wales 264 (Copeland 58, Patterson 54, Doherty 3-37, Gulbis 3-74) and 0 for 43 need another 212 runs to beat Tasmania 354 and 164 (Cosgrove 81, Abbott 4-36)
Scorecard

Sean Abbott helped give New South Wales hope of victory on the third day in Hobart, where they finished the day on 0 for 43 chasing 255 to beat Tasmania. Abbott picked up 4 for 36 as the Tigers, with the notable exception of Mark Cosgrove, struggled to post a big second-innings score and finished all out for 164.

Cosgrove was the only Tasmania batsman to pass 20, and he struck 12 boundaries in his 81 from 106 balls before he was caught behind off the bowling of Abbott. Doug Bollinger, Gurinder Sandhu and Steve O'Keefe each collected two wickets as Cosgrove's colleagues failed to follow his lead, after the Blues had earlier added 64 to their overnight total.

New South Wales began the day on 5 for 200 but the overnight half-centurions, Trent Copeland (58) and Kurtis Patterson (54) added little in the morning. Abbott chipped in with 33, including three fours and two sixes, as New South Wales reached 264 in their first innings. At stumps, they were 212 runs from their target, with Ryan Carters on 26 and Nic Maddinson on 17.