Test opener Ed Cowan was dismissed cheaply but Tasmania made a solid start in their pursuit of a strong NSW first innings total of 442 in their Sheffield Shield cricket match on Thursday.

At tea on day two at Bankstown Oval, the Tigers were 1-64, with Mark Cosgrove on 41 and Alex Doolan five.

Cowan (17) fell in the 12th over, when he left and misjudged a Trent Copeland delivery that crashed into his stumps.

Fellow left-hander Cosgrove produced some typically powerful shots on an easy-paced pitch that offered the bowlers very little.

The Blues were dismissed shortly after lunch, but not before Moises Henriques (161 not out) and Trent Copeland (55) each recorded his best first-class score.

Their 124-run union represented the Blues’ highest Sheffield Shield eighth wicket stand against Tasmania.

They batted through the entire morning session, but the Blues innings closed when they lost 3-17 from the time of Copeland’s dismissal.

Henriques, who had made nine first-class fifties, almost doubled his previous best first-class score of 82, made for Australia A against Pakistan A in Townsville in 2009.

The Australian one-day and T20 representative smashed 15 fours and four sixes in his impressive 229-ball innings.

Copeland notched his second first-class half century, eclipsing his previous best of 53 against Queensland at Blacktown in the 2010-11 season.

Six bowlers claimed wickets for Tasmania, but only former Bankstown and NSW second XI paceman Jackson Bird (3-75) took more than one.