North rallies to sink Tasmania

Western Australia 7 for 197 (North 75*, Griffith 3-40) beat Tasmania 9 for 193 (Watson 63, Harvey 3-49) by three wickets
Scorecard

Shaun Marsh dives in an unsuccessful attempt to pull off a spectacular catch © Getty Images

An unbeaten 75 in 96 balls from Marcus North helped guide Western Australia to a tense three-wicket win over Tasmania at Perth, a result which means that Western Australia leapfrog New South Wales to head the ING standings, while Tasmania's fourth straight defeat effectively ends their one-day ambitions for the summer.

WA looked set for an easy win when they restricted Tasmania to 9 for 193 and then cruised to 1 for 82, but the dismissal of Ryan Campbell for 42 (82 for 2) triggered a mini collapse during which four wickets fell for 38 runs. Then North was joined by Brad Hogg and the pair put on a crucial 68 runs for the sixth wicket. By the time Hogg fell for 26 the game was as good as over, but the margin of victory was further reduced when Kade Harvey tried to end the match in style but was caught behind for 0.

Earlier, forgotten Australian allrounder Shane Watson's stubborn 63 off 90 balls minutes on a lively WACA pitch helped Tasmania to respectability, and even though the wicket had a strong tinge of green, their score was always going to be hard to defend.

Wicketkeeper Sean Clingeleffer (48 off 80 balls) provided a handy foil to Watson's innings, but Tasmania were tamed by a well-disciplined WA attack with allrounder Kade Harvey (3 for 49) taking three wickets in four balls near the death.

The rot set in quickly for the Tasmanians with openers Michael Dighton (6) and Michael Di Venuto (10) dismissed in the first four overs. Jamie Cox fell for 7 soon after a 45-minute break for rain before Watson and Daniel Marsh (22) mounted a fightback of sorts. However, Hogg deceived Marsh before Watson and Clingeleffer put on 70 for the sixth wicket.