Bowlers, Dunk put Tasmania on top

Bottom-placed Tasmania added considerable tension to the race for the Sheffield Shield final by making a storming start to their match against the competition leaders Victoria at Bellerive Oval.

Sent in to bat, the Bushrangers were rolled for 165 on a pitch that offered some assistance to the seam bowlers, before Ben Dunk led the Tigers to a comfortable 2 for 115 at the close.

With three rounds remaining, Victoria had been in comfortable possession of the first spot on the table, but the loss of regular wickets in Hobart offered hope for their pursuers.

No Victoria batsman passed 30, with the sometime Australian pace prospect Andrew Fekete claiming the key wickets of Travis Dean and Peter Handscomb.

Tasmania shared the spoils, including a three-wicket burst for the part-time off breaks of Beau Webster and another trio of wickets for the seamers of Hamish Kingston.

Chris Tremain found a way past Tim Paine and Webster when Tasmania batted, before Dunk played sweetly with sound support from Alex Doolan to take the hosts within 50 runs of a first innings lead.