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TAS v SA - Pura Cup

Thursday, November 6 2003

Pura Cup-Tasmania v South Australia at Hobart


Bellerive Oval in Hobart was the setting for match 3 of the 2003/04 Pura Cup , between Tasmania & South Australia.

South Australian captain Greg Blewett won the toss & elected to bat on a pitch which offered some assistance to the quicker bowlers early on , a 67 run opening partnership had the Redback’s on top early before spinner Xavier Doherty & paceman Adam Griffith struck , removing both openers shortly before lunch.
A superb spell of swing bowling after lunch from left armer Andrew Downton (5-71) put Tasmania on top , the prize wickets of Andrew Flower & Blewett both fell to Downton as he picked up his 3rd 5 wicket haul in first class cricket , Damien Wright (3-47) then cleaned up the tail , John Davison failed to repeat his ING cup heroics , out for a golden duck, despite the lusty hitting of number 9 Mark Cleary (58 from just 62 balls) , South Australia were bowled out for a below par 236 shortly before stumps.
Tasmania then reached 1-39 at the close , loosing Mason lbw to Shaun Tait.

The Tiger’s then proceeded to bat the Redback’s out of the match , a brilliant 213 run partnership between experienced opener Jamie Cox (119 , 12 fours) & Australian allrounder Shane Watson (103 , 13 fours , 1 six) was the highlight of Tasmania’s 420 , skipper Dan Marsh finished unbeaten on 76 & Michael Di Venuto contributed 50.
Cleary was the pick of the South Australian bowlers , toiling through 33 overs for 5-102 , however the pitch had flattened out significantly & the remainder of the Redback’s bowlers struggled.

Despite the early loss of Shane Deitz , the Redbacks fought back admirably on day 3 , skipper Blewett & opener David Fitzgerald guiding the score to 1-191 at stumps , putting an outright result almost out of the question.
They continued their run-feast the next day , taking their partnership to a massive 281 before Blewett was bowled by Griffith for a typically stylish 171 (22 fours , 1 six) , Andrew Flower’s lean spell continued as he made just 13 before falling victim to Wright.
The match then faded out to a draw with the Redback’s racking up 6-482 , Fitzgerald finishing unbeaten on a carear best 202 (29 fours).
Wright was the best of Tasmania’s bowlers with 2-70.
Tasmania take 2 first innings points from this clash to move into 3rd place on the ladder behind Victoria & South Australia.

Summary- Tasmania 420 (J.Cox 119 , S.Watson 103 , M.Cleary 5-102) drew with
South Australia 236( Cleary 58 , Downton 5-71) & 6-482(Fitzgerald 202* , Blewett 171)
Tasmania wins on first innings.
Man of the match – Andrew Downton





Posted by DavidH