Queensland will take the confidence from their near miss defending 68 a week ago into the final day of the Sheffield Shield clash with Tasmania after tailender Ben Cutting rescued them for a second time at Bellerive.
The Bulls came within a whisker of bowling Western Australia out for less than that meagre target at the Gabba, with Alister McDermott returning the stunning figures of 7-24.
They’ll have at least 146 to play with against the Tigers on day four after Cutting took his match tally to an unbeaten 136, finishing 57 not out when bad light ended play with Queensland 9-201.
The Bulls had been in strife at 8-118 and with a lead of just 63 before the paceman produced a carbon copy of his unbeaten 79 in the first innings, cracking his 57 off 75 balls with three sixes.
McDermott was the other not out batsman on two not out.
Bulls coach Darren Lehmann said his side would use the one-wicket loss to WA as a confidence booster.
“Yeah, you do,” he said.
“At the end of the day we’ve got what we’ve got. We’ve got to make it enough.”
For the second time in the match, Tasmania let the ladder leaders off the hook and they will now need to complete a tricky chase to keep their final hopes on track.
Cutting and fellow quick Steve Magoffin (24) put on 66 for the eighth wicket before Magoffin was caught by Alex Doolan off the bowling of Brendan Drew (1-57) at 9-184.
“He played beautifully, he played like a batsman,” Lehmann said.
“That’s the best he’s batted all year.
“He had some good cameos for us earlier on in the year but the way he’s batted this game’s been exceptional.”
Tasmanian pacemen Luke Butterworth (3-29) and Jackson Bird (3-37) destroyed the Bulls’ top order as the wicket continued to offer assistance to the bowlers on another rain-affected day.
Queensland’s wickets fell regularly after they had wrapped up Tasmania’s innings for 260 by taking 5-39 in the morning session, a lead of 55 for the home side.
“We were probably 50-60 runs short this morning with the bat but we came out and bowled well, probably the best we’ve bowled,” Butterworth said.
“We’re still only chasing 145 so we’re still on top of the game.”
