Most recent attempts at staging cricket matches in Tasmania have been aborted because of rain, but the sun finally returned to bless one of its venues today. So did Darren Lehmann, Brad Young and Mark Harrity, though, as the trio combined to lead South Australia's saunter to an impressive 42-run ING Cup win over the Tigers here in Launceston.

As Tasmania chased a Lehmann-inspired target of 227 to win on a testing NTCA Ground pitch, left arm paceman Harrity and left arm spinner turned fieldsman extraordinaire Young proved its destroyers.

When the home team reached 2/54 on the back of a brisk 37-run partnership between Graeme Cunningham (27) and Michael Di Venuto (24), the game was in the balance. But, when Harrity (3/31) fooled each of three batsmen into spooning catches to Young at cover, it was all but over.

Harrity and Young had linked forces at the head of a depleted three-man attack that led South Australia to a last-day Pura Cup win earlier in the season at Hobart, and they were now wreaking havoc again.

Young had earlier taken a brilliant low catch, sliding with an outstretched right hand at second slip to pluck an edge from Jamie Cox (4) at second slip. And a fifth catch in the innings - creating an all-time record for a non-wicketkeeper in Australian domestic one-day cricket - later arrived as Damien Wright (17) lashed a delivery from Mike Smith (2/26) to mid wicket.

Just for good measure, Young (3/29) also struck three times at the bowling crease on a virtuoso afternoon. He was springing up like popcorn wherever one looked.

"He certainly had a day out," said South Australian captain Lehmann of Young's performance.

"I've never seen anything like that before. And he's pretty happy about it too.

"It was a good win for us. We obviously needed to win to stay in touch with the top two or three (on the table). And it puts us right back up there now after the Vics beat New South Wales today."

Emerging left handers Scott Kremerskothen (42*) and Sean Clingeleffer (23) battled staunchly against the odds for Tasmania, even helping their team scramble beyond the indignity of ceding a bonus point. But they were deprived of support as their teammates acquiesced with, rather than stemmed, the Redbacks' momentum.

Earlier, Lehmann (85*) had been in his element - not an atypical development in Tasmania either - in piloting the Redbacks to their eventual total.

Upon winning the toss, the visitors were off to a flying start, raising an opening stand of 39 runs inside the first seven overs with a flurry of drives, pulls and cuts from the bats of Greg Blewett (22) and David Fitzgerald (14).

The underrated but ever-consistent Wright (3/32) pegged them back, linking with fellow new ball bowler David Saker (2/46) to trigger a slide that saw four wickets crash with only 12 more added to the total.

Lehmann was scratchy early as he mounted the recovery, playing and missing more than once on the two-paced pitch and failing to move his score any further than 3 after the first 26 balls of his innings. But, once his eye was in, he was impossible to remove. Albeit that he was increasingly hampered by what he later described as Achilles tendonitis and a bruised heel, he was the one batsman to truly master the pitch.

While his innings yielded 161 runs less than a clattering hand at Bellerive earlier in the season, these were almost as priceless.

With Nathan Adcock (45), he added an invaluable 90 runs for the fifth wicket, and then a further 51 were raised with Young (23) for the sixth.

The temperature was rising by this stage on a blissful afternoon in Tasmania's second biggest city and, as it happened, Young was only warming up too. A healthy crowd at the small, tree-lined ground tried its best to offer equivalent inspiration to the home team but watched the Tigers' batting turn cold.

Cox was disappointed in the lack of application shown by his batsmen, and further dejected by the fact that Tasmania has now inherited from Victoria the chalice of last place on both domestic competition ladders. Though he added that, on present form, his team doesn't deserve to be anywhere else.

© 2002 CricInfo Ltd