Tasmania secure victory in rainy Brisbane

Tasmania 1 for 60 beat Queensland 205 (Perren 49, Hilfenhaus 3-29, Geeves 3-31) by 14 runs (D/L method)
Scorecard

Queensland's inconsistent batting and poor weather cost the Bulls victory at the Gabba, where Tasmania were 14 runs in front on the Duckworth-Lewis method when the rain set in. Chasing 206 for victory, the Tigers had reached 1 for 60 after 15.5 overs, which was enough to begin their title defence with a win.

Ben Hilfenhaus and Brett Geeves proved to be a handful for the Bulls, who had chosen to bat. Hilfenhaus found some swing early and drew an outside edge from James Hopes before Clinton Perren and Lee Carseldine settled the innings down with a 50-run stand. But after Carseldine departed for 29 the Queensland middle-order men struggled to make use of their starts.

Particularly disappointing was that Andrew Symonds did not even get that far - he looked rusty in his six-ball stay and lofted Xavier Doherty to mid-on without scoring. Perren, who had been promoted to open, needed to see the innings through but he fell for 49 to a brilliant one-handed catch from Daniel Marsh, who dived to his right midwicket.

Ashley Noffke and Nathan Reardon put together the Bulls' version of a bailout package as they tried to bat out the overs but Hilfenhaus and Geeves were too accurate. The same could not be said of Brendan Drew, who when attempting a run-out threw the ball at full speed into the back of Hilfenhaus, whose attempt to duck out of the way was in vain.

Hilfenhaus and Geeves finished with three wickets each as they ensured a gettable target for their batting colleagues. The chase began poorly when Michael Dighton was caught behind for a golden duck but Dane Anderson moved to 31 not out and Tim Paine had 17 when the weather turned bad, and it was enough to kickstart Tasmania's one-day season on a high.