Hopes, Noffke rescue win for Qld
Posted
Despite being bowled out for their fourth-lowest Sheffield Shield total ever, the Queensland Bulls rallied to defeat Tasmania by 48 runs at the Gabba in Brisbane on Sunday afternoon.
After scoring 232 in their first innings with help from Chris Swan (75) and Chris Hartley (55), the Bulls were embarrassed in their second dig, managing only 62 runs as Ben Hilfenhaus cut a swathe through the home side's batting attack.
Needing 193 for victory, the Tigers looked like they were a chance to take outright points, with Rhett Lockyear and Travis Birt digging in for 34 and 24 respectively.
But the two-pronged bowling assault of James Hopes (4 for 24) and Ashley Noffke (3 for 41) made light work of the visitors on a hard Gabba pitch, securing the six competition points.
Andrew Symonds, hopeful of a Test recall, showed his usual fielding prowess when he ran out Michael Dighton for just 3, and had Tim Paine (16) trapped lbw.
Symonds, like the rest of his team-mates in the second innings, could only manage a pair of 5s with the bat to go along with his 4 for 27 match figures.
