In-form opener Mark Cosgrove struck an unbeaten 48 to guide Tasmania to 0-71 at lunch on day one of their Sheffield Shield clash with competition leaders Victoria on Tuesday.

The Bushrangers won the toss and elected to bowl first at the MCG on a green-tinged pitch in sunny conditions.

However despite having Test quicks James Pattinson (0-16) and Peter Siddle (0-16) in their lineup, the home side were unable to make a breakthrough in the opening session.

Cosgrove has hit six boundaries in his 100-ball innings while Test opener Ed Cowan has crawled to 17 not out from 82 deliveries.

In the third-last over before lunch, Pattinson troubled Cosgrove with a bouncer which the chunky left-hander top-edged towards fine leg for four.

Cosgrove had scored 232 runs at an average of 77.33 with one century in Tasmania’s opening two matches this season.

Victoria spinner Jon Holland has pulled out of the match with a shoulder injury while Peter Handscomb is 12th man.

Former Test allrounder Andrew McDonald and limited-overs international Glenn Maxwell return to the Bushrangers’ lineup.

Tasmania named ex-Test spinner Jason Krejza as 12th man.

Victoria are on top of the table with two wins to start the season while Tasmania are third.