Tasmania holds on

With the aid of some rigid captaincy from Victoria's Paul Reiffel, Michael Di Venuto (62*) and Scott Kremerskothen (41) have rescued Tasmania from embarrassment on day two of their Pura Cup clash at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

A ninety-six run partnership between the pair has salvaged the Tigers after their first five wickets fell for just twenty runs.

At stumps, the visitors are still 188 behind Victoria's first innings total with Di Venuto and Sean Clingeleffer (7*) at the crease.

Joined after Shaun Young's (0) dismissal at seven minutes past two, the pair worked hard to rebuild the Tigers' innings, staying together for three hours and nineteen minutes. Knowing another wicket could finish their innings well inside the hundred-run mark, the two left handers took their time and batted to stay in rather than compile runs.

Their slow and steady approach frustrated bowlers and spectators alike, with the morning's strong crowd full of cheering schoolchildren giving way to just a handful of purists by the end of the day. Their scoring rate of less than two runs an over - at one stage thirty-one deliveries went by without a single run - was tedious to say the least. Still they soldiered on, with chants of "boring, boring" ringing in their ears.

Victorian captain Paul Reiffel did not seem too interested in effecting a succession of bowling changes, retaining faith in Ian Harvey (1/25) and off-spinner John Davison () rather than introducing occasional bowlers such as Clinton Peake or Brad Hodge to perhaps break the Tasmanians' concentration and add a bit of spice to the proceedings.

Although devoid of flair and excitement, the partnership did get the job done for the Tasmanians, who would have been happy to watch an alliance ticking into double figures, especially after they had lost three wickets for just one run at the head of their innings.

Di Venuto was well rewarded for his patience with a half century which included four boundaries and took 176 balls. All-rounder Kremerskothen was not as lucky, falling lbw to Harvey for forty-one. His innings included four boundaries and lasted 141 deliveries.

Harvey nearly claimed another wicket from the very next ball, with wicketkeeper-batsman Clingeleffer appearing fortunate to survive a strong lbw appeal.

Having lost opener Dene Hills (0) in the fourth over of the day, the Tigers fell into a hole - four batsmen returning to the pavilion with ducks beside their names. Reiffel (2/22) and young left-armer Mathew Inness (3/19) were the main destroyers, with the pair taking all but one of the day's wickets.

Fresh from his Australia 'A' experience against the West Indies last week, the red-haired Inness was in fine form - bowling with typical accuracy and consistency. Reiffel, at the other end, did much the same and the pair had a stranglehold on the Tigers for their forty-one overs.

After a rush of dismissals on either side of the lunch break, Victoria failed to drive home the advantage in the second half of the final session. However, given that it still leads by 188 runs, the home team looks certain to capture first innings points tomorrow morning.

Earlier today, the Victorian tail wagged to its heart's content, with Davison (33) starring in a quickfire fifty-one run partnership with Reiffel (23). Although unimpressive with the ball, Davison shone with the bat, smashing four boundaries in his thirty-two minute innings.

Controversially selected for this match over talented all-rounder Ben Oliver, Davison was eager to make an impact and ended up doing better than his more established teammates such as Jason Arnberger (0) and Ian Harvey (15).

An unbeaten eleven runs from fast bowler Mick Lewis also helped, taking Victoria from yesterday's 6/250 to a healthy 322.