Marnus cashes in to put Bulls in strong position

A change of bat coupled with a mid-innings nets session lifted Marnus Labuschagne to a career-high Sheffield Shield score as he piled the pain on Tasmania who squandered three opportunities to remove the Test batting phenomenon before he had reached 25.

Labuschagne's 167 from 230 balls faced not only put the Bulls in a strong position at 6-331 in reply to Tasmania's 250 at the end of day two, it was his first Marsh Sheffield Shield century for more than two and half years.

But it  did not arrive without a triple helping of good fortune in the morning session, which convinced the right-hander to skip lunch and instead head to the nets at Gladys Elphick Park in Adelaide from where he emerged in more recognisable form to dominate the afternoon.

He later revealed the decision to head to the practice pitches was the result of opting to switch to a lighter bat after lunch, and a desire to have a "feel" for the new blade before he continued his innings.

The switch brought his first Marsh Sheffield Shield hundred since he scored 134 against New South Wales at Wollongong in March 2018 – his previous highest Shield score.

But during that comparatively lean spell at Shield level, in which he averaged just under 30 from 27 innings with a high score of 78, the 26-year-old has also posted four Test tons (including a double-hundred) and an ODI ton to establish himself as a force at international level.

His Shield lean trot would have been extended today had Tasmania held on to one of the three chances Labuschagne presented in a half-hour period shortly before lunch as his frustration grew with Tasmania's tight bowling and clever field placings, and his own inability to find any fluency.

"My cover drive didn't feel that good and every time I tried to drive it, I just nicked it," Labuschagne said tonight.

"I rode my luck a little bit with those chances, but I felt like after that I batted much better and I got that rhythm back.

"When you're not playing a lot of cricket you don't get that so it was nice to get that rhythm and a bit of time in the middle."

Those missed opportunities will haunt the Tigers whose batters had struggled to score freely on the slow but true pitch yesterday, and whose all-pace attack kept Queensland under pressure for much of day two without landing knockout blows.

While Labuschagne stole the spotlight with his innings that featured 17 boundaries and two sixes, his Australia teammate Joe Burns (seven) and Test aspirant Usman Khawaja (four) fell cheaply.

Burns was dismissed in the morning's fourth over when Peter Siddle speared through the opener's defence and rattled his leg stump to claim his first wicket for Tasmania after taking 233 in 61 Shield appearances for Victoria.

Khawaja was adjudged lbw to right-armer Nathan Ellis operating around the wicket as he aimed to flick the ball through the leg side, and appeared surprised when given out.

Beau Webster then made partial amends for earlier mishaps late in the day when Matthew Renshaw (48) pushed a ball to cover and set off for a seemingly simple single, but was found short by the allrounder's direct hit at the bowlers' end despite a despairing last-gasp dive.

It was a tight call and Renshaw appeared sure he had made good his ground despite having to veer around bowler Ellis before launching his ultimately unsuccessful lunge for the line.

It was a breakthrough that came against the run of play in the final session, as the lush outfield and sandy base of the first-time first-class venue took its toll on the weary leg of Tasmania's quicks who had toiled with admirable discipline.

It was the paucity of scoring options they provided that had led Labuschagne to flash at a full delivery from Bird in the 30th over that took the outside edge and flew fast to the right of Webster at second slip, whose spectacular flying attempt to intercept it yielded admiration but no wicket.