Redbacks' season goes on the line against Tasmania

HOBART, Feb 26 AAP - South Australia's season goes on the line when the Redbacks visit Bellerive Oval for the Pura Cup cricket clash with Tasmania starting tomorrow.

Redbacks captain Greg Blewett didn't need any reminding today of the match's importance.

Defeat would relegate the Redbacks to also-rans, just as they finished the ING Cup one-day competition.

"We are sitting on 22 points at the moment, so we need two outright wins to have a chance of playing in the finals," he said.

Blewett said the team's confidence had been boosted after it picked up six points for toppling ladder leader Queensland by an innings and 125 runs inside three days at Adelaide Oval earlier this month.

It was SA's first win in either a one-day or four-day match since November 15-18, when the Redbacks defeated NSW outright in Sydney.

"It's got us up there in the mix again," Blewett said.

With two matches remaining - both against Tasmania - the skipper's only concern was the weather.

"There's been some rain forecast for the next three days," he said.

"Hopefully we will get enough cricket in to get a result."

Tigers skipper Jamie Cox would also be hoping for a good result, sitting just 10 runs shy of a 10,000-run tally in Australian domestic first-class cricket.

If he achieved the goal, he would join Australian World Cup batsman Darren Lehmann (11,095) and former South Australian batsman Jamie Siddons (10,643).

Tasmania goes into the match on the bottom of the ladder with eight points and has lost Damien Wright and Ben Oliver to injury.

Wright has not recovered from a back injury sustained during the last match and Oliver was suffering from a hernia.

Gerard Denton returned to the Tigers' lineup following an extended lay-off through injury, while allrounder Adam Polkinghorne had been included for the first time this season after impressive grade cricket performances.

Right-hand middle-order batsman Chris Bassano will make his Tigers debut.

TEAMS: Tasmania - Jamie Cox (c), Sean Clingeleffer, Michael Dighton, Michael Di Venuto, Xavier Doherty, Andrew Downton, Adam Griffith, Adam Polkinghorne, Daniel Marsh, Scott Mason, Chris Bassano, Gerald Denton.

South Australia - Greg Blewett (c), Mark Cleary, Mark Cosgrove, Shane Deitz, David Fitzgerald, Mark Higgs, Ben Johnson, Graham Manou, Mick Miller, Paul Rofe, Shaun Tait, Brad Young.