Philipson and Hopes save Bulls from horror start

Queensland 9 for 394 (Philipson 119, Hopes 97, Nash 92, Griffith 4-127) v Tasmania
Scorecard

Queensland staged a remarkable recovery from three severe early hits to safety as Craig Philipson scored his second first-class century against Tasmania at Bellerive Oval. When Damien Wright removed Jimmy Maher and Adam Griffith stuck with the wickets of Martin Love and Clinton Perren, the Bulls were in serious trouble at 3 for 29.

But Philipson and the opener Brendan Nash, who was dismissed eight short of his century, stabled the situation with a 191-run partnership and then James Hopes, the Australia A allrounder, surged with 97 from 81 balls. Hopes smashed 16 fours and narrowly missed bringing up his hundred when caught by Michael Dighton off Brett Geeves. "To get nearly 400 in a day, that's pretty good batting no matter what conditions you've got," Maher, the captain, said.

Griffith was the most successful of the bowlers with 4 for 127 and Geeves chipped in with three wickets, but Tasmania will be upset to have let their strong advantage slip.