The Tasmanian Tigers grabbed first innings points and declared in the shadows of the tea break on day three of their Sheffield Shield clash with New South Wales in Hobart.
The Blues then navigated their way through a tricky 20-minute session to be 0-13 at the break, but Usman Khawaja (one not out) rode his luck in getting there, dropped before scoring by diving wicketkeeper Brady Jones in Luke Butterworth's second over.
Led superbly by a dashing century from captain George Bailey, the Tigers added 264 runs after resuming on Wednesday at 0-81 to reach 7-345 and put the onus back on the Blues to force a result in the rain-affected match.
Bailey (117) looked untroubled throughout his 140-ball stay at the crease, carving a number of spectacular boundaries through the off-side off front and back foot and carrying on where he left off in the Ryobi Cup match on Saturday where he made 94.
But it was an arrow-like cut shot that eventually bought him undone, Phil Hughes taking a sharp chance at head height from the bowling of Josh Lalor (3-73).
Bailey smashed 20 boundaries and one six during his knock but chanced his arm once too often when he picked out Hughes in his quest for quick runs.
Scott Coyte (2-64) was the only other bowler to take multiple wickets, removing Ed Cowan (47) during the morning session and following up by dismissing Steve Cazzulino for 87 in the hour after lunch.
James Faulkner (six) was in no mood to hang around after Bailey's dismissal and immediately looked to push the tempo, aiming for a couple of expansive drives before he'd even scored.
Unsurprisingly, his stay at the crease was short-lived and he went the same way as his skipper, gifting Lalor his third wicket.
Mark Cosgrove (44) and Luke Butterworth (22) added 46 in quick time as the Tigers pushed towards their target with tea approaching.
Needing a single to pass the NSW first innings total of 7-341 (declared), Cosgrove fell to Sean Abbott (1-61) when trying to blast a drive over the infield and only succeeded in providing catching practice for Steve O'Keefe at mid-off.
O'Keefe (1-49) then chimed in with the wicket of Butterworth as the Tigers momentarily floundered in their pursuit of first-innings points.
Brady Jones (four not out) wasted no time in slogging a boundary from the third ball he faced to push the Tigers ahead, promptly turning to the rooms where Bailey called his batsmen in with a four-run lead.
There are still 36 overs remaining in an extended day's play in Hobart and the NSW batsmen are likely to push hard during the evening session in a bid to set a total for the Tigers to chase on Thursday.