Retro-look Bulls thrash Redbacks

ADELAIDE, Feb 8 AAP - Queensland cricketers were sporting 1970s-style moustaches and sideburns as part of a team pact, but it was South Australia that finished the day looking silly after suffering an eight-wicket thrashing in their ING Cup match at Adelaide Oval today.

The Bulls kept on track for a berth in the ING Cup final by chasing down SA's dismal 138 all out in just 30.4 overs, losing only two wickets on the way and earning what could be an extremely handy bonus point.

It took the top-placed Bulls to 27 points on the Cup table, five points clear of second-placed Western Australia with one match to play.

A berth in the final is still not assured however, as both WA and fourth-placed NSW have three games in hand.

"We knew we had to win our last couple of games, that's still the case, we still have to go to Tassie next week and do that," Bulls skipper Martin Love said after the match.

"Whatever else happens in other games, if we win down there we're pretty much guaranteed of being in the final somewhere."

It was the sixth straight ING Cup loss for bottom-placed SA and the fourth straight match in which it conceded a bonus point.

Of most concern is the batting, with totals of just 83, 51 and 170 in its previous three matches.

SA lost two early wickets to run-outs today, and its chances of making a competitive total ended when Lee Carseldine entered the attack in the 22nd over and took two wickets in two balls to make the score 6-63.

Queensland opener Nick Kruger was named man of the match after an impressive debut, the hard-hitting 19-year-old left-hander making 41 from 51 balls in an innings that included seven boundaries and ensured the Bulls would romp to victory.

"He's a good cricketer, he's only a young guy, but he has made runs in second XI cricket and grade cricket," Love said.

When Kruger was dismissed in the 16th over with the score on 66, Love took over, scoring a typically fluid 43 not out from 50 balls, including a six and a four in the space of three balls to finish the match.

Love said the team's facial hair pact, which the players called a tribute to the 1970s, had become an annual Bulls tradition.

"We try to do it once a year and this was our trip for it," he said.

The laconic Love played a typically straight bat to a comment from Queensland coach Terry Oliver that his own moustache caused him to look like a porn star.

"I don't know about that, I don't know what porn stars look like," Love said.