Paine leads Tasmania to thrilling one-wicket win

Tasmania broke South Australian hearts for the second consecutive match with a tail-end chase to send the Redbacks tumbling from contention for the domestic limited-overs title in the last match at Bankstown Oval. The competition will now move on to Hurstville, North Sydney and Drummoyne, but SA now have to win each of their remaining three matches and hope for favourable results elsewhere to have a chance of qualifying for the finals.

The Tigers, however, have surged back into the tournament with consecutive wins, erasing opening losses to New South Wales and Victoria. They were again grateful to Ben Hilfenhaus for his uncomplicated lower-order batting, which had him punching Joe Mennie's full toss down the ground to win the match with one ball and one wicket remaining.

Tasmania started the final over with eight required, and the loss of their captain Tim Paine seemed to put the Redbacks in best position before Hilfenhaus' final blow. Their chase for 211 had been guided by Paine with the help of a series of cameos by Ben Dunk, Alex Doolan, Ed Cowan and Jordan Silk. Peter George returned to the SA bowling attack after a period on the outer and plucked three wickets.

SA's progress in the morning had been spotty on another pitch that made run-making difficult, and they had Michael Klinger to thank for getting as far as 210. Tom Cooper, Sam Miller and Tim Ludeman all made starts, their progress stunted by regular wickets from Andrew Fekete, who was to be handed the match award.