Rain continued to play havoc with the Bupa Sheffield Shield hopes of both Tasmania and NSW in Hobart on Tuesday afternoon.
On a day where only 27-overs were possible due to regular showers, Tasmania had moved to 0-81 when play was abandoned shortly after 7pm with Ed Cowan (37 not out) and Steve Cazzulino (36 not out) defying the Blues attack throughout the day.
Umpires were forced to call an early lunch when players left the field for the second time at 1.39pm and after an extended break, the second session eventually commenced at 2.55pm.
It was to be a short stay on the field, however, as the covers were back on at 3.11pm where they stayed in place for more than three hours.
Re-taking the field at 6.25pm and desperate for outright points in their pursuit of a finals berth, both sides were stymied once more when umpires signalled for the covers after just 21 minutes of play.
Both Tasmanian openers had played cautiously throughout, in part due to the regular intervals, but also thanks to a tremendously tight spell of bowling from Trent Copeland.
The rangy medium-pacer bowled unchanged from the Southern end of Blundstone Arena, trundling through 13 consecutive overs either side of the rain breaks and allowing just 16 runs in the process.
Copeland beat the bat on a number of occasions and found the outside edge of Cowan’s blade during the opening session, only to see the ball fall agonisingly short of a diving Steve Smith at second slip.
With Western Australia poised to take first innings points in its Shield match against QLD in Brisbane, the Tigers and Blues need to take maximum points from this contest to claw their way closer to the top two and a berth in the final come season’s end.
Inclement conditions have been forecast for the rest of the week in Hobart but there's no doubt both camps will be hoping for a break in the weather on Wednesday as they look to capitalise after a frustrating Day 2.
