Tasmania paceman Jackson Bird showed just how much the reigning Sheffield Shield champions have missed him by decimating the South Australia batting order at Hobart’s Bellerive Oval.
Playing Shield cricket for the first time in 15 months, the 27-year-old struck twice in his first over on Tuesday and six times in total to leave the Redbacks reeling in their pursuit of the six competition points needed to ensure a place in the final for the first time in 18 years.
Bird finished with superb figures of 6-50 from his 17 overs, cleaning up the South Australia tail on the stroke of tea as passing showers briefly threatened to disrupt the day’s play.
The Redbacks had recovered somewhat during the afternoon session to finish with a first-innings total of 212, but by stumps the Tigers had moved to 2-145 as they looked to finish their season with what would be just the third victory in a disappointing campaign.
Tigers opener Mark Cosgrove (83 not out) was the mainstay during the home side’s reply, notching up his half-century in the final hour and adding 129 runs alongside Ben Dunk (54 not out) to further frustrate the visitors on a day they might wish to forget.
Heading into the last round, the Redbacks had been well placed to take the season decider to Adelaide but now face an uphill battle to stay in the hunt for a place in the final with NSW and Queensland performing well against Western Australia and Victoria, respectively.
When Bird had stand-in skipper Phil Hughes (nine) trapped lbw in his second over, the Redbacks had slipped to 3-13 and the Tigers were well on the way to dominating the opening day’s play.
In-form all-rounder Luke Butterworth also chimed in for the home side, catching opener Sam Raphael (four) at slip from Bird’s bowling before removing the dangerous Tom Cooper (19) leg before to turn in the typically miserly figures of 1-30 from his 12 overs.
Teetering on 5-80 at the lunch break, the Redbacks had been well served by Andrew McDonald (83) and Tim Ludeman (15) who managed to somewhat steady the ship after South Australia had slumped to 5-39 in the first hour, by adding 70 runs for the sixth wicket.
In reply, the Tigers lost opener Ed Cowan for one when he was bowled by Gary Putland (1-41) and when Alex Doolan was caught low at first slip for two the home side was on shaky ground at 2-16.