New South Wales has overcome the early loss of Test aspirant Phil Hughes to progress to 1-75 at lunch on day one of its Sheffield Shield clash against Tasmania.
Looking to impress national selectors ahead of next week's Test against the West Indies in Brisbane, Hughes fell in the opening hour of play for just 12 when he dragged a short and wide ball from Luke Butterworth (1-23) back onto middle stump.
Phil Jaques (40) and Simon Katich (18) survived the remainder of the session and will resume the fight after lunch.
Having won the toss and elected to bat in overcast conditions, both NSW openers had some difficult early moments on a wicket offering some assistance for the quicks.
Jaques began nervously, edging through the slips to get off the mark, while Hughes looked uncomfortable for the majority of his 35-minute stay at the crease.
Butterworth was particularly dangerous in his opening spell, moving the ball considerably through the air and off the deck.
His decision to bowl around the wicket paid immediate dividends when Hughes dragged a delivery he could have easily left alone back onto his stumps.
The former Test opener was attempting to play the short and wide delivery through the covers but only succeeded in finding a thick inside edge to bring his innings to an abrupt end.
Katich also found the going tough early in his innings and was fortunate to survive when he edged Butterworth just wide of fourth slip to open his account.
He also appeared fortunate to survive a massive lbw shout from Brendan Drew (0-9) when he was on seven after playing across the line to a ball that pitched on middle and leg and appeared to straighten.
At the other end Jaques began to find his rhythm, his straight drive off the otherwise economical Drew shortly after drinks the shot of the session.
Off-spinner Jason Krejza (0-28) was introduced into the attack after drinks and immediately extracted turn and bounce from the day-one pitch but struggled for consistency at times.
The visitors were dealt a major blow on the eve of the match with paceman Brett Geeves ruled out with a side strain, while promising Blues rookie Josh Hazlewood will have to wait a little longer to make his Sheffield Shield debut after being named 12th man.
New South Wales 1st innings
Hughes b Butterworth 12
Jaques not out 40
Katich not out 18
Extras: 5 (2b, 3lb)
Total: 75 (1 wickets; 31 overs)
FOW: 1-23
Bowling
Butterworth 8 - 1 - 23 - 1
MacDonald 10 - 3 -10 - 0
Drew 6 - 1 - 9 - 0
Krejza 7 - 0 - 28 - 0