Tasmania struggle in Shield opener

Tasmania 5 for 149 (Doolan 37) v South Australia
Scorecard

South Australia's bowlers made solid progress on a rain-interrupted opening day of the Sheffield Shield season in Adelaide, where Tasmania reached 5 for 149. Several batsmen made starts but nobody could pass the 30s as the Redbacks' seam-heavy attack chipped away.

The hosts had left out the specialist spinner Cullen Bailey and in the damp conditions the faster men were expected to do the bulk of the work. However, the part-time slow offerings of Aaron O'Brien accounted for Jonathan Wells for 32 and the Redbacks may have wondered about their decision.

But Tasmania's batsmen found it hard to build momentum against the seamers and the occasional medium-pacer Mark Cosgrove picked up Alex Doolan for 37. A partnership between last year's captain Daniel Marsh and his successor George Bailey followed, until Bailey (34) cut Peter George into the hands of Michael Klinger.

Marsh followed soon after for 13, making Chris Duval the fifth single-wicket taker right on the verge of bad light halting play. The day had started with a 44-run opening stand until Ed Cowan, in his first game for Tasmania having switched from New South Wales during the off-season, was bowled by Mark Cleary for 23.