Tasmania crawled to 1-48 at lunch on the opening day of their Sheffield Shield clash with Queensland at the Gabba on Thursday.
The Bulls appeared almost resigned to not taking a wicket after a luckless run of near misses and close calls before Tigers opener Mark Cosgrove found a way to get out just 20 minutes before the lunch break.
Cosgrove (25) defended a Ryan Harris delivery and took off, only to be easily caught short by a direct hit from Greg Moller at cover.
It ended a 47-run stand with Jordan Silk (19 not out) – albeit at a snail’s pace.
Their partnership came from 153 balls with just two fours hit and at a rate of less than two runs an over.
The Bulls attack had hoped to exploit a juicy Gabba deck that had largely been under cover in the lead-up due to wet weather.
However, Queensland’s quicks appeared underwhelmed by the lack of assistance with some bounce but little swing evident.
The Bulls attack is spearheaded by ex-Test quick Harris (0-24 off nine overs) in his first Shield game of the season after finally overcoming off-season shoulder surgery.
Both Queensland (3rd; 22 points) and Tasmania (5th; 18pts) will be aiming for an outright victory to push their Shield final claims with just two games remaining.
The Bulls are an outright win behind leaders Victoria while the Tigers can keep their hopes of a top-two finish alive with a six-point victory at the Gabba.