Freeman and Hope the heroes for Tasmania in record run chase
Matthew Wade had given the home side a platform with a superbly paced century
AAP
29-Oct-2023
Bradley Hope leaps into Jarrod Freeman after the winning runs are scored • Getty Images
Tasmania 150 (Webster 59, Steketee 4-42) and 432 for 7 (Wade 105, Webster 70, Wakim 56) beat Queensland 379 (Burns 133, Clayton 96, Peirson 52, Neser 51) and 202 for 6 dec (Renshaw 57, Burns 55) by three wickets
Tasmania pulled off the highest successful run chase in their Sheffield Shield history in a memorable three-wicket triumph over Queensland.
Set 432 to win, they secured the victory with just 10 balls left in a thrilling conclusion to the match at Blundstone Oval in Hobart on Sunday.
Unheralded lower-order batters Bradley Hope (48 not out) and Jarrod Freeman (47 not out) added an unbeaten 75-run eighth-wicket partnership to guide Tasmania to their second win of the season.
Freeman smashed a huge six off former Tasmania player Gurinder Sandhu to complete the chase in the penultimate over.
"I've never heard him [Hope] scream like that at the end there," Freeman said. "He's pretty pumped. That's pretty special. I sort of thought if fielders are up straight, I'm going to try and get it [for six] and luckily enough I did. How good?"
The run chase tops Tasmania's previous best in a winning cause when David Boon's 152 propelled them 402 for 6 against Western Australia at the WACA in March 1996.
It was also the sixth-highest chase in the history of the Shield, which started in 1892-93, and the best since Queensland hit 471 for 5 to beat South Australia in 2014.
Starting the day at 88 for 2, Tasmania looked no chance of winning until Matthew Wade and Beau Webster came together at 158 for 4
Wade, who was recalled to Australia's T20I squad on Saturday, carved out an impressive 105 for his 19th first-class century to boost Tasmania's chances. Together with Webster, the pair put on a 164-run partnership before Wade was lbw to Mitchell Swepson.
Michael Neser, who missed day two after flying home to Brisbane for personal reasons, looked to have sunk Tasmania when he bowled Webster.
But Hope, whose best score in five previous first-class matches was 27 not out, looked assured at the crease with the big-hitting Freeman.
Queensland go to 1-2, after opening their account for the season with a convincing victory over Victoria last week.
"We couldn't contain them," Queensland coach Wade Seccombe said. "I think that's one thing we could look back on and reflect and say there were moments in the game where we could have controlled the scoreboard a little bit better.
"If we hadn't done that it would have put a bit more pressure on the way they went about their scoring, but credit to them, they didn't allow it."