Marsh hundred gives Tasmania victory

Tasmania 5 for 270 (Marsh 106*, Bevan 55) beat Western Australia 9 for 208 (Hussey 79) by 62 runs
Scorecard

Daniel Marsh: reached his hundred off 85 balls © Getty Images

Tasmania cruised to a 62-run win over Western Australia in their opening ING Cup match after Daniel Marsh, their captain, blasted 106 runs off 90 balls to set a total which proved just too big to chase.

The match did not start happily for Western Australia. They lost the toss and off the fourth ball of the day, Scott Meuleman dislocated his shoulder in attempting to run out Michael Di Venuto and was taken to hospital. But they pegged Tasmania back to 3 for 62 before Marsh's arrival changed things.

He started slowly, but added 89 for the fourth wicket with Michael Bevan, who hit an 82-ball 55 on his debut. Marsh, who was dropped by Steve Magoffin when he had made 7, accelerated towards the end of the innings, with the last 16 overs producing 141 runs. He posted fifty partnerships with both George Bailey (21) and Luke Butterworth (29) as Tasmania closed on 5 for 270.

In reply, WA lost both openers very cheaply - Luke Ronchi fell to the first ball, and a batsman down already with Meuleman absent, became over-reliant on Mike Hussey, who scampered to a fluent 79. But after he was dismissed, their hopes of victory disappeared, and they lost their last four wickets for 39.