Blues two down at lunch

Phil Hughes' nightmare run at Blundstone Arena continued in the first session of the Bupa Sheffield Shield clash between Tasmania and New South Wales on Monday.

Dropped from the Test team after failing in both innings of the Hobart Test match in December, Hughes fell for just one run in the fourth over of play after Tigers' captain George Bailey won the toss and sent the Blues in on a green-tinged pitch.

By lunch, NSW had recovered somewhat, thanks largely to a steady hand from Steve Smith (34) and 22 to Simon Katich, to be 2-81 on a green wicket.

Hughes was beaten several times in the opening over from Tasmanian all-rounder Luke Butterworth as the new ball seamed around to make batting difficult.

But it was a short ball from Jackson Bird that eventually bought him undone, finding the shoulder of his bat as he fended awkwardly and ballooning away on the leg side where Tigers' wicketkeeper Brady Jones scrambled to take a good diving catch.

Usman Khawaja (21) opened in the absence of the retired Phil Jaques and toughed out a sustained period of pressure from the Tigers' pace attack that kept he and Smith relatively quiet during the opening hour of play.

But Khawaja, fresh from a century in Saturday's Ryobi Cup match, had his stay at the crease cut short when Butterworth found a thin outside edge in the 18th over to present Brady Jones with a simple catch behind the wicket.

Simon Katich narrowly avoided the same fate as Khawaja from Butterworth's next delivery and also survived a strong LBW shout in the next over from James Faulkner before he'd even settled at the crease.

The left-handed former Test opener was gifted a life when Mark Cosgrove grassed a low chance at first slip from Faulkner's bowling in the 25th over, the ball flying past diving wicketkeeper Jones before hitting Cosgrove near the wrist as he sprawled to his right searching for the catch.

This was one of a number of chances that fell short of the three-man slip cordon Bailey employed throughout the session and may prove costly if Katich is allowed to settle in again after the break.