Bulls ride to victory after Perren blitz

Queensland 9 for 202 (Perren 82, Reardon 54, Dighton 6-25) beat Tasmania 164 (Bailey 41, Rimmington 5-27) by 38 runs
Scorecard

Clinton Perren smashed 82 from 37 deliveries to set up a Queensland victory in the first Twenty20 match of the season. Despite the extraordinary bowling of Tasmania's Michael Dighton, who claimed 6 for 25, the Bulls' 202 was enough as a Nathan Rimmington hat-trick ended Tasmania's hopes.

Perren blasted seven sixes and six fours and together with Nathan Reardon, whose 54 came from 31 balls, did the damage before Dighton kept the Tigers in the game. Dighton, a batsman who has not taken a wicket in 49 first-class matches, kept the scoring down in the late overs after the front-line spinners Daniel Marsh and Xavier Doherty proved expensive.

But the visitors could not match Queensland's run-rate and were dismissed for 164 in the 19th over. Rimmington, who finished with 5 for 27, picked up four wickets in five balls to end the fight. George Bailey made 41 from 26 balls and Michael Di Venuto scored 36 from 19 but tight bowling from Rimmington and Ashley Noffke made the chase difficult.