As balls hit hands, helmets and the tiers of grandstands all around him, Sean Clingeleffer hit all the right notes to lead Tasmania out of trouble on the second day of its Pura Cup match against South Australia here in Hobart today.

Though the visitors encountered only fleeting alarms on the way to a mark of 1/108 by stumps in a generally confident reply, Clingeleffer offered Tasmania a significant safety valve as it reached a mark of 7/382 before a mid-afternoon declaration.

The 21-year old wicketkeeper-batsman had walked to the crease shortly before tea yesterday with his team struggling to come to grips with a pitch offering the bowlers plenty of encouragement in the way of variable bounce and consistent seam movement.

But, by the time he left it upon captain Jamie Cox's decision to close the innings nearly a day later, he had struck a sparkling unbeaten 141 to lift his rapidly swelling first-class average to a shade under 30. He hit the ball beautifully to all parts of the wicket and even showed he might be willing to assist in stage two of the Bellerive Oval redevelopment when he slammed one delivery viciously into the roof of a stand at mid wicket.

"It's a good feeling, that's for sure," said Clingeleffer of the attainment of his first century at this level.

"It would have been nice for us to get a couple of wickets there at the end but, overall, it wasn't a bad day."

"Last year, I was a bit loose at times and I wanted to be a bit more patient early in my innings this year. I've worked pretty hard (in the off-season) with a few of the coaches, particularly off the front foot and in trying to be a little more solid."

For as well as he played, though, the passage to his total wasn't always smooth. He should have been caught at 94, when he lifted a flighted Brad Young (1/97) delivery to Greg Blewett at around waist level at mid wicket. The same fieldsman also grassed a chance after standing and waiting underneath a shot which had lobbed the ball high in the air toward mid on.

And there was a missed stumping opportunity off the desperately unlucky Young when the former Australian under-19 gloveman advanced and played around a flighted delivery with his score at 136.

On 80, Clingeleffer had also benefited from an obscure clause in the rule book. More specifically, the provisions of Law 32 meant silly mid off fieldsman David Fitzgerald's juggled interception of a drive at Darren Lehmann (0/24) didn't count as a catch because the ball had struck his helmet before reaching his hands.

As the response began, Jeff Vaughan (0*) then met the pitch at its most capricious, ending a distant second best in a battle with a vicious rising delivery from David Saker (1/27) that smashed its way off a length and into the visor on his helmet. Vaughan was felled, had to be assisted from the field, and was still drifting in and out of bouts of sleep by stumps. Team manager Andrew Sincock said he would only bat again tomorrow if he experienced a comfortable night.

Blewett (45*) and Fitzgerald (31) opted upon steady accumulation as the best method of counter-attacking before the latter fell to what looked a tough lbw decision as a tailing Saker inswinger struck him low on his front pad.

Blewett was more fortunate, surviving imploring lbw appeals against the bowling of Shane Watson (0/46) and Shane Jurgensen (0/18) when on 31 and 44 respectively. Around several trademark cover drives and square cuts, he also miscued more than once and didn't always look at ease in still-tricky batting conditions.

After receiving another near-unplayable Saker bouncer as his first delivery, Lehmann (28*) typically injected fresh life into the cause in the lead-up to stumps. He showed emerging star Watson the ropes in more ways than one, dealing with loose deliveries so harshly that he even sent the ball rocketing to the boundary four times in the space of three minutes late in the afternoon.

© 2001 CricInfo Ltd