Herculean Bell and Doran's stunner seal thriller for Tasmania

Brilliant seam bowling from Gabe Bell and an outstanding performance behind the stumps by Jake Doran thwarted Western Australia's bold push to reel in a big fourth innings target as Tasmania claimed a pivotal Sheffield Shield victory by 22 runs.

Chasing an unlikely 345 runs, WA were up against it but battled hard on a flattening WACA surface and gave Tasmania a massive fright on the final day before Bell stepped up to finish with 6 for 82 off 32.4 overs.

It was another nerve-jangling finish between the teams after Tasmania won by three runs at the Bellerive Oval in October.

WA had got within 32 runs of victory with two wickets in hand until Cameron Gannon edged Bell to a diving Doran, who spectacularly hung on low to the ground.

Bell sealed the result midway through the second session when he had Jhye Richardson, who made 46 off 115 balls, caught behind to trigger scenes of jubilation for Tasmania who moved within touching distance of second-placed Queensland.

The surface's lower bounce and movement was to the liking of the hardworking Bell, who finished with match figures of 9 of 133. He was well backed up by Doran, whose superb effort with the gloves included a sharp catch keeping up at the stumps to dismiss opener Cameron Bancroft which did cause damage to the webbing of his right hand.

Doran also made an invaluable 74 in Tasmania's second innings and shared a 10th wicket partnership of 60 with Billy Stanlake which proved vital.

"It's probably something we didn't factor coming in with how much keeping up he would do here. But for him to take that by the horns, it's not easy, and he did a great job," Tasmania skipper Jordan Silk said of Doran.

"Couldn't be happier and prouder. Our group is really resilient and looking forward to having a real push at the backend."

WA's season is effectively over as they remain anchored on the bottom of the ladder in what feels like the end of an era after winning a hat-trick of titles from 2022-24.

WA ultimately rued a dismal first innings of 155 in another patchy display from an under-firing batting-order. In a silver lining, Richardson starred in his first Shield match in 15 months after taking 5 for 83 for the match.

"It hurts. The closer you get, the more it hurts," WA captain Sam Whiteman said. "It's going to be tough to make a final from here. I think as a group, it's a good opportunity to get some games into some young guys and go back to our blueprint. It wasn't long ago that we were dominating."

WA started the day at 197 for 4 and still needing 148 runs for an unlikely victory. Their slim hopes appeared to rest with Aaron Hardie and Teague Wyllie, who had done well to bat through the last hour of day three.

A pivotal passage of nine overs before the second new ball loomed with Silk deploying offspinner Raf MacMillan, playing his second first-class match.

He lasted just one over after the normally defensive-minded Wyllie unfurled a full-blooded sweep shot to the boundary. The pair looked untroubled in the opening 30 minutes with Wyllie hoping to kick on in his Shield season debut having fallen away in recent years following his stunning century against New South Wales in late 2022 as an 18-year-old.

But Wyllie fell for 21 - which is his first-class average - when he was trapped in front by an inswinging delivery from Bell to end the 56-run partnership. It was a familiar dismissal for Wyllie, whose lack of footwork has been exposed at this level.

Bell gave Tasmania a stranglehold when he knocked over wicketkeeper Joel Curtis from around the wicket before Richardson offered support to Hardie to again lift WA's spirit.

On the back of a terrific all-round BBL campaign, Hardie's confidence was evident and he accumulated runs with relative ease to reach his half-century off 82 balls. A terrific cover drive from Richardson dissected two fielders with precision to get the deficit under 100 runs as the faithful in the terraces started to stir.

As had been the case across the match, wickets came in clumps with Hardie on 56 steering Bell to gully before Corey Rocchiccioli was run out after his bid for a quick single was snuffed out by a direct throw from Silk.

The match appeared to be wrapping up before lunch until Richardson and Gannon held firm to stretch it into a second session. Their 55-run partnership was made without much fuss until Doran took his exceptional glove work to new heights.