Rain, Wade halts WA Shield Final push

An unbeaten 82 from Matthew Wade and Perth thunderstorms have curtailed Western Australia's opening day efforts with the ball against Tasmania at the WACA Ground.

Having wont the toss and chosen to bowl the home side reduced the Tigers to 3-59 in the opening session, but did not claim another wicket for the day as Wade and Jake Doran shared an unbeaten 123 run stand for the fourth wicket, rain washing out the final two hours of play.

They were able to include captain Mitchell Marsh and allrounder Ashton Agar in their side but did not find room for Josh Philippe who had been named in the 14-man squad. For Marsh it was his first Sheffield Shield match since October 2019 and just his second first-class outing since the 2019 Ashes Test at The Oval.

Marsh and Agar were among seven bowlers used but were unable to add to the early inroads.

Left-armer Paris picked up where he left off in the previous outing against Victoria, where he scored a century and took a five-wicket haul, when he found the edge of Jordan Silk from round the wicket in ninth over.

Debutant Tim Ward, who had been handed his cap by Tim Paine, shaped up well in his first innings until being undone by a good spell from Cameron Gannon and edging to slip.

Paris then struck a second time when Caleb Jewell nibbled at one outside off stump and was smartly held by Shaun Marsh at second slip. However, after sending down the opening over of the second session he did not return.

Western Australia would still have had hopes of advancing the game significantly, but Wade and Doran showed that the surface held few gremlins. For large parts of the afternoon the run rate hovered around two an over as either side tried to claim the advantage.

Wade brought up his half-century from 135 balls with a hooked six off Mitchell Marsh during an over that cost 11 making it the most expensive of the day.

Rain arrived early in the final session and though it cleared to allow a brief resumption, during which Doran went to a 152-ball half-century, the umpires soon decided that the artificial lights had overtaken natural light too much to continue.

Play will resume at 9AM on day two from the WACA Ground, coverage on 91.3 Sport FM to start at 10AM with commentary via cricket.com.au from 9AM.

IMAGE: The West Australian.