A classy century from star recruit Phil Hughes and a sharp three-wicket haul from Jake Haberfield helped set up South Australia's 82-run bonus-point win over Tasmania in the Ryobi Cup on Tuesday.
Batting first, Hughes (114) and Redbacks skipper Johan Botha (55 not out) piled on the runs as they racked up 8-248 from their 50 overs in Hobart.
The Tigers started the chase confidently in their first home appearance this season but things began to go awry shortly after the introduction of 26-year-old paceman Haberfield (3-35) in the 11th over.
Bowling consistently around the 140km/h mark, the right-arm quick cashed in on a couple of poor shots from the Tasmania batsmen and combined well with finger-spinner Botha (4-29) to dramatically change the face of the game as the lights - and the Redbacks - took over at Blundstone Arena.
Hughes batted patiently throughout his 134-ball stay at the crease, finding the boundary nine times and clearing it once with a flat pull shot from the bowling of an expensive Ben Hilfenhaus (1-74).
With some pundits suggesting former Test opener Hughes may be best served returning to the international scene via one-day cricket, this ton came hot on the heels of an unbeaten 95 against Queensland and marks him as one of the domestic competition's in-form batsmen.
Tasmania's own left-handed opener, Mark Cosgrove (37), also looked in great touch during his innings but fell meekly to Botha, providing the cue for Haberfield to make inroads into the middle order and really put the home team in a tough spot.
Veteran Ricky Ponting (14) joined Tim Paine (36) at the fall of Cosgrove's wicket and the pair set about their work diligently, but not without some cause for concern.
The former Australia captain had just one run to his name when he was dropped at cover by Nathan Lyon from Haberfield's bowling, but the Redbacks seemed to take some encouragement against the powerful Tigers' top order.
The rangy paceman was producing a sharp spell from the northern end and had to wait only a couple more overs to claim his first scalp, that of Paine who was caught on the midwicket fence by Hughes.
When George Bailey followed for a duck three balls later, Tasmania had lost two wickets without scoring and still had plenty of work to do at 3-88 in the 19th over.
Haberfield soon had his revenge over Ponting when Callum Ferguson pouched a diving effort at mid-off.
Botha turned in his best all-round performance since moving to the Redbacks this season and will have been particularly pleased by his side's performance with the ball, the visitors clearly outpointing Tasmania in the field.
The former South Africa Twenty20 skipper did grass a simple chance at mid-on when Ed Cowan was on 20 and fighting hard alongside Aiden Blizzard (37) to keep Tasmania in the game, but when Dan Christian (2-35) removed the Test opener in the next over, the Tigers were as good as done.
James Faulkner and Jason Krejza offered little resistance as the Tigers slumped to 7-153 in the 40th over and were all out soon after.
Krejza earlier snared 4-58 to lead the way for Tasmania with the ball but his efforts were ultimately to no avail and the Tigers will now turn their attention to Thursday's Sheffield Shield fixture between the two sides.
First Posted 30 October, 2012 9:29PM AEST
