Hodge's 139 sets up 20-run win for Victoria

Victoria 7 for 326 (Hodge 139, Hussey 93) beat Tasmania 9 for 306 (Birt 97, Dighton 63, Bailey 58, Hastings 3-62) by 20 runs
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

Brad Hodge's highest one-day score in 17 seasons for Victoria set up a 20-run win that pushed the Bushrangers into second place on the FR Cup table. Tasmania were set an enormous 327 for victory and thanks to a powerful 97 from Travis Birt they almost got there, but the loss of Birt in the 48th over snuffed out their chances.

James Pattinson picked up the key wicket of Birt, whose 77-ball stay ended when a flat aerial drive was taken at long-off. Birt struck three sixes and was the key man for Tasmania, who also had contributions from Michael Dighton with 63 and George Bailey, who made 58.

The Tigers had some misfortune including the dismissal of Jason Krejza, who helped Birt in a late 32-run stand. Krejza was controversially adjudged run out when the third umpire felt his bat was in the air within the crease when the stumps were broken, having bounced when he touched it down, although it was hard to conclusively call one way or the other.

Another moment of luck for Victoria came when Rhett Lockyear (26) became one of three wickets for John Hastings. Lockyear drove down the ground and the ball was spilled by David Hussey, running back at mid-off, only to bounce off his cap and then off his forehead and land safely in his hands.

Hussey, the stand-in captain for Victoria, had helped drive them to 7 for 326 in a 183-run stand with Hodge. Hussey had made 93 from 85 balls when he played on a knuckle-ball slower deliver from the part-time medium pace of Dighton.

But the star of the day was unquestionably Hodge, who has retired from first-class cricket but continues to prove a force at state level. Hodge's 139 from 136 deliveries was his best score ever in the FR Cup or its predecessors - his highest List A innings of 164 came in a match for Australia A.

Hodge struck 11 fours and three sixes, including one slap over midwicket off Brett Geeves that landed on the roof of the corporate boxes. The win meant Victoria jumped Tasmania and moved into second behind Queensland with two games each remaining for the Bushrangers and the Tigers.