Tasmania see off spin twins to stay unbeaten

Tasmania 7 for 197 (Dighton 58, Krejza 3-45) beat New South Wales 9 for 193 (Bradstreet 45, Griffith 3-43) by three wickets
Scorecard

Roaring Tigers: George Bailey and Xavier Doherty celebrate steering Tasmania to a three-wicket win © Getty Images

Tasmania clawed their way to a three-wicket victory over New South Wales in the ING Cup match at Newcastle on Sunday. The Tigers reached their target of 194 with 11 balls to spare, despite the best efforts of the debutant spinner Jason Krejza and Stuart MacGill.

George Bailey showed a cool head as he came in at No. 6 to lift the visitors over the line. after the openers Michael Dighton and Michael DiVenuto had cruised to 0 for 74 off 14 overs before MacGill was introduced.

Dighton looked like he would lead the Tigers to a bonus point, but he holed out, trying to loft MacGill over the fence just once too often. Then a rash shot soon after by the promising wicketkeeper-batsman David Dawson handed the Blues a glimmer of hope.

Krejza, the youngest member of the side, then dismissed one of the finest players to wear the sky blue. Michael Bevan's first knock against his old state ended on 15 when he mis-hit a full toss straight to midwicket for Krejza's first wicket in the domestic competition.

Shawn Bradstreet: lone stand helped New South Wales gain some respectability © Getty Images

After Luke Butterworth's departure for 6, Tasmania edged within 14 runs of the target before Krejza struck again, dismissing Damien Wright. But the visitors survived the pouring rain to register their second win from two outings.

The Tasmania quick Adam Griffith was Man of the Match for his devastating three-wicket opening spell, and it was only Shawn Bradstreet's resistance (45) in the middle order that stopped New South Wales from registering a paltry total.