Watson breaks down as Tasmania cruise to victory

Tasmania 454 and 1 for 88 (Bailey 51*) beat Queensland 200 and 341 (Hopes 84, Perren 71, Moller 51, Krejza 3-114) by nine wickets
Scorecard

Another injury to Shane Watson added to Queensland's pain as James Hopes could not drag them out of their deep hole and Tasmania cruised to a nine-wicket win in Hobart. The Tigers were left with a chase of only 88 and reached their target easily thanks to a George Bailey half-century.

The injury-prone Watson was halfway through bowling his third over when he left the field with soreness in his left hamstring. Although he completed 25 overs in Tasmania's first innings, Watson had only been back bowling in the Pura Cup for two matches after initially returning from his previous hamstring injury as a batsman only.

Bailey, who had made a first-innings century, finished unbeaten on 51 and made light work of the chase along with Travis Birt (31 not out). The only stumble came when David Dawson, making his first state appearance since 2005-06, fell for 0 to register a pair on his Pura Cup comeback.

A handy 73-run partnership between Hopes and Ashley Noffke gave the Bulls a slight chance of posting a defendable score, but when Noffke fell to the Man of the Match Daniel Marsh for 47 the tail fell away quickly. Noffke has become used to being a lone hand for Queensland this summer but this time it was Hopes who carried the team's hopes.

He was the second-last man out, making 84 to add to his first-innings 87, as Jason Krejza helped wrap up the lower order and dismiss the Bulls for 341. It looked like the Tigers had a sniff of an innings victory before Hopes combined with Clinton Perren, who was the first man out on the final day, scoring 71.

The defeat leaves Queensland languishing at the bottom of the Pura Cup table with no wins and five losses from their seven matches. Tasmania, the defending champions, are second-last and have virtually no chance of reaching the final.