Bulls seek points after skittling Redbacks

Queensland 2 for 58 trail South Australia 162 (Hopes 3-28, Harris 3-29) by 104 runs
Scorecard

James Hopes and Ryan Harris led a strong bowling display from Queensland as they increased their chances of making the Sheffield Shield final on the first day against South Australia. The Bulls knocked over the Redbacks for 162 and at stumps they were 2 for 58, needing another 105 runs to take first-innings points, with Alex Kemp on 24 and Joe Burns on 23.

Queensland began the last round of matches second on the Shield table but good performances from Tasmania and Victoria in their games mean it is unlikely the Bulls will reach the decider unless they take some points against South Australia. They gave themselves a good chance of doing that after Hopes sent the Redbacks in.

South Australia have not won a match in this campaign and again they were disappointing, with Tom Cooper's 21 the highest score among the specialist batsmen. Hopes collected 3 for 28 and Ryan Harris took 3 for 29, while Steve Magoffin and Alister McDermott each picked up two wickets.

The Redbacks could have found themselves in even more trouble after they crashed to 9 for 107, but a tenth-wicket partnership between Gary Putland (31 not out) and Peter George (22) at least gave the bowlers a slim chance of defending their total. George and Putland picked up a wicket each before stumps but a big job lies ahead of them if they are to deny Queensland the lead.