Hastings digs in to rebuild Victoria

Victoria 9 for 282 (Hastings 82*, Hussey 72) v Tasmania
Scorecard

The allrounder John Hastings dragged Victoria to the useful position of 9 for 282 after some serious slips on an eventful opening day against Tasmania. Hastings showed strong batting form again, having posted a valuable 84 against New South Wales last month, and his 82 was needed as the visitors dropped to an uncomfortable 6 for 116.

Hastings and Matthew Wade (33) put on 76 to settle the side and Damien Wright added 36 to take them further forward. But it was the work of Hastings, who struck 10 fours and a six in his battling 194-ball stay, that was most effective as Victoria looked to build on their position at the top of the Sheffield Shield table following the Twenty20 break.

In the morning David Hussey raced to a half-century to lift the Bushrangers from 2 for 11 and had 74 from 72 when he was caught at slip off Tim Macdonald. His dismissal added to the visitors' troubles and left them six-down after the debutant Aaron Finch (8) and Rob Quiney (8) had both fallen to James Faulkner in his opening two overs after lunch.

George Bailey's decision to bowl first paid off quickly when Nick Jewell (2), Lloyd Mash (2) and Chris Rogers (24) went in the first session. Brett Geeves returned the best figures with 3 for 61 while Faulkner, Macdonald and Luke Butterworth had two each.