Jaques blasts NSW into Twenty20 final

Phil Jaques' rollicking 61 propelled New South Wales into the final as Tasmania were bashed big-style, losing by a whopping 69 runs. The visitors made hay, galloping to 6 for 188 although Adam Polkinghorne did manage to puncture NSW's middle order, taking 3 for 31.

But by then the visitors were well on their way after Jaques and Daniel Smith put on 90 for the first wicket. Tasmania's start contrasted a touch - their opening pair, Travis Birt and Michael di Venuto both made ducks.

Such a setback in the confined sphere of Twenty20 is hard to recover from and so it proved, with Tasmania quickly folding to 119 all out. NSW will now face Victoria in the inaugural final on Saturday.

If that win was straightforward, another contest at the same ground was less so. Controversy reigned in the mascot race as Tyro Tiger crossed the line despite appearing to have made a false start. Tully Tiger certainly thought he had - believing that his fellow beast hadn't fairly earned his stripes, Tully took a full-on swipe at the victor. But perhaps Tully was just a paw loser.

Meanwhile, another mauling was taking place in Adelaide - this time, Western Australia consigned South Australia to a 54-run defeat.

The storyline was broadly similar to that which was played out at Hobart, with the side batting first piling up the runs - WA made 174 for 6 largely thanks to Ryan Campbell's 55 - then both openers falling cheaply in reply - Darren Lehmann made 1, Graham Manou a duck - to leave another insurmountable run chase. SA, always up against it, were eventually bowled out for 120.