Negotiating a flying Usman Khawaja and a pitch that awakened after three days of plunder, one-time Brisbane Grade player Nikhil Chaudhary (76) and Caleb Jewell (67) have seen Tasmania to a draw against Queensland. LARS SAGORSKI wraps up the final day at Allan Border Field.

With the match drifting towards a stalemate, Allan Border Field hosted a devoted gathering under the arches of the Matthew Hayden Stand where the rustle of newspapers and paperbacks punctuated the Day 4 lunch break. The prior three days had seen 1053 runs scored on a bright yellow strip that now began to show its unpredictable side.

As the 33-degree day progressed, cracks began to appear. Thin black lines streaked the wicket, not the obtrusive chasms of the WACA in its heyday but still wide enough to cause left-handers some trouble, or lose a set of keys.

This was a match that, up to a point, had all the life of a Joseph Conrad novel yet managed twists and turns worthy of a Trent Dalton story arc.

Tasmania resumed on 1/62 under a cloudless sky.  It was an agonising morning in the field for Queensland. There were outside edges, inside edges, leading edges and bottom edges. Numerous deliveries hit newly-opened cracks and shot past both batsman and wicket-keeper. For three days the pitch had been as docile as a well-fed labrador. Now it was starting to misbehave.

Queensland’s field placements were unconventional. At times Labuschagne set three short catching covers, spread two metres apart, enveloping the offside in a parachute formation. Other times he had two short mid-wickets, the hulking frame of Gurinder Sandhu perched in line with the crease. It did little to contain Tasmania; Jake Weatherald (57) was the only man who fell before lunch as Tim Ward and Caleb Jewell looked immovable.
 
In the middle session, an acrobatic Usman Khawaja breathed life into the game. His first catch came out of nowhere. It was the only drive Ward failed to control in 141 rocks, sliding off his bat and skimming through the air towards Khawaja.

He sprung out a right hand and curled his fingers around the ball before it could find a blade of grass.

His second catch was even better, launching sideways at first slip (unsighted due to Peirson keeping up to the stumps) to snaffle Bradley Hope’s edge and leave Tasmania five down, trailing by 42 runs with 50 overs remaining and a second new ball looming. The visitors were in a precarious position.

Neser took the new ball after Tea with the Bulls hopes of cracking open the game resting on their spearhead.
 
The first ball exploded off a crack in the surface. The second ball snuck low off another jagged slice of turf, missing leg-stump by a toothpick… The third ball found yet another crack, Caleb Jewell’s edge and the middle of Jimmy Peirson’s gloves. 

Just when Queensland looked certain to clean up the tail and chase a modest total, the imposing Nikhil Chaudhary strode to the crease.

Chaudhary, a BBL mainstay for the Hurricanes making his first-class debut in this match, decided to fight fire with fire, as has been his preference during his formative seasons with Northern Suburbs in the KFC Queensland Premier Cricket competition.

He erased the remaining deficit rapidly and cracked the new ball to all parts, bringing up a counter-attacking 38-ball 50 with a boundary off Mitch Swepson.

Labuschagne found a breakthrough at the start of the last hour to keep things interesting, but Chaudhary continued to exploit the attacking fields set by Queensland, with Benji Floros and Jack Wildermuth posing plenty of questions for the batting side.

The game finished in the shadows, number 9 Kieran Eliott wading through a phalanx of close fielders to keep the Bulls at bay. Chaudhary finished with a match-saving 76* (80).

In a four-dayer defined by runs including eight individual half-centuries and three tons, Queensland’s top order were the point of difference between both states.

Each of the top four passed 50 in their first innings, amassing a mammoth total of 612. While it meant Queensland ran out of time to claim an outright victory, their first innings shut out any hope of a Tiger’s win and reaped bonus points.
 
The Bulls enter the next round in third position on the Sheffield Shield ladder, while Tasmania are in fourth.

Both teams meet again tomorrow in their One Day Cup clash at Allan Border Field where each side will look to extend their unbeaten start to the season in the limited overs format.