Bailey century sets up impressive win

Tasmania 266 and 5 for 319 (Bailey 160*, Doolan 54) beat Victoria 233 and 351 (Quiney 106, Finch 66, Carters 50, Maher 3-59, Faulkner 3-66) by five wickets
Scorecard

George Bailey played the quintessential captain's innings, scoring an impressive, unbeaten 160, to guide Tasmania to their improbable fourth-innings target of 315 against Victoria at the Bellerive Oval.

Bailey's tenth first-class ton was also his career-best effort, and came under steady pressure. Resuming at 1 for 1, Tasmania lost opener Nick Kruger with only 21 on the board. Bailey walked out to join Alex Doolan, and the pair set about stemming the rot with a determined stand. They remained together for a ball short of 34 overs, and added 112 runs to take the sting out of Victoria's bowling, before Peter Siddle got Doolan to edge behind for 54.

Mark Cosgrove could not contribute much to the cause, and perished for 12 to give Victoria a chance to target the lower middle order. Travis Birt scored 26, adding 47 with Bailey before Jon Holland trapped him in front, with Tasmania 106 short of the target with five wickets remaining. Things seemed set for a tight finish, but Bailey shut the door on Victoria with an emphatic array of strokes.

He waded into the Victoria attack, hitting 18 boundaries in his innings, that spanned 235 balls. James Faulkner steadied his end, with an unbeaten 47 off 77 balls, and the pair finished the game in the 91st over of the day.