States jostle to face Tasmania in final

Tasmania will play in the Pura Cup final starting on March 19 but their opposition and the location of the match are still undecided with one round left. New South Wales are in prime position to secure a place against the Tigers but Western Australia and Victoria remain in the mix.

Three games begin on Thursday and all could shape the final. The top-of-the-table clash between Tasmania and New South Wales at Hobart looms as the key match and a win to the Blues would close the door for the Warriors and the Bushrangers.

However, Tasmania have plenty of reasons to compete as a loss would force them to travel to Sydney to play off for the title. The importance of hosting was clear after last year's final, in which Queensland, needing only a draw to lift the cup, batted Victoria out of the contest with 6 for 900 in their first innings.

The Tigers must forget about their last effort against New South Wales five weeks ago, when the Blues smashed them by an innings and 165 runs at Sydney. Even a draw would ensure a Hobart final for the first time and give Tasmania their best chance yet to win their maiden Pura Cup.

Tasmania, led by George Bailey in the absence of Dan Marsh with a calf injury, are unchanged after completing an easy eight-wicket victory against a dreadful South Australia on Sunday. New South Wales could not finish off Queensland last week and question-marks over Simon Katich, who led the Blues with 205, and Grant Lambert, the in-form allrounder, make the Tigers favourites.

Western Australia and Victoria each must win their last-round matches to have any chance of extending their campaign for another week. The two teams are four points behind New South Wales, meaning if they both win and the Blues do not, Victoria progress to the final as they would have the most outright victories.

The Warriors, who are fourth, have a high quotient so they would likely make it through should they win and both Victoria and New South Wales lose or draw. However, they are the team relying most on results from other games.

Western Australia should be confident for their Adelaide clash with a Redbacks unit that has lost six of its nine games this season. The Warriors inflicted one of South Australia's worst performances this year when they thrashed the Redbacks within two days in January, as Steve Magoffin and Ben Edmondson twice tore the heart out of the top order.

Justin Langer led the Warriors with two superb innings as they went agonisingly close to beating Victoria on Sunday. His terrific state form has added venom to an already strong line-up that features Marcus North, Adam Voges and the competition's leading run-scorer, Chris Rogers.

The Bushrangers face a more difficult task at Brisbane, against Queensland, a side they have not beaten in a Pura Cup match since 2004. It will be even harder without their leading wicket-taker, Shane Harwood, who has a buttock strain.

An inexperienced attack consisting of Peter Siddle, Clinton McKay, Dirk Nannes, Grant Lindsay and Bryce McGain is available for Victoria, which is perhaps an appropriate end to an injury-plagued season for the state's bowlers. The batting looks stronger, with David Hussey, Nick Jewell and Andrew McDonald all in form.

Last week's games gave the Tigers and the Blues the chance to seal their own destinies; only Tasmania took the opportunity. Now three teams are fighting for one place in the final and just one thing is certain: their efforts to this point of the season mean little unless they win this week.