Dighton stands tall among the ruins

Tasmania 9 for 313 (Dighton 152, Wise 3-59. McDonald 3-69) v Victoria
Scorecard

Michael Dighton slapped Victoria's bowlers all over the ground as he guided Tasmania to a hard-fought 9 for 313 at stumps on day one of the Pura Cup clash at the Bellerive Oval. Tasmania were 3 for 46 when Dighton came to the crease and he scored 152 runs in commanding style off 208 balls, including 18 fours and five sixes.

Dighton passed the milestone of 2500 first-class runs en route and blitzed his season best of 127 not out against Queensland at Bellerive in January. His innings ended when he was caught at cover by Cameron White off Allan Wise, the left-arm paceman, who later captured Andrew Downton (3) to finish with three for 59 off 22.

Dighton's sixth-wicket stand with Sean Clingeleffer yielded 163 before Clingeleffer (46) was snared by Brendan Joseland, the debutant in his first over. "I guess it was just one of those days," Dighton said, unaware he was just 65 runs shy of 1,000 for the season. "I just tried to put the bad balls away and there was a short boundary on one side (so) I tried to take a bit of advantage of that. It is good to contribute to the team after being in early trouble."

Xavier Doherty was unbeaten on 15 at the close of play, while Gerard Denton was 12 not out. Dighton said he hoped the pair could add at least 30-odd runs tomorrow to push the Tigers over the 350 mark.

Andrew McDonald proved a top performer today. He was recalled to the squad at the eleventh hour after Ian Harvey was forced out with a groin strain. McDonald's first victim was Shane Watson, who was caught behind for an unlucky 13. Michael Di Venuto (16) was next when he was caught at gully by David Hussey. McDonald also claimed Dan Marsh for a duck on his next ball to leave Tasmania flailing on five for 83. When Darren Berry caught Marsh he reached the milestone of 600 first-class dismissals.

Tasmania, placed second (22 points) are hungry for an outright win to secure a final berth against Victoria (40), with Queensland (18) and NSW (17) still in contention.