New South Wales v Tasmania, Pura Cup, Sydney, 3rd day

Tigers stagger from too much Bollinger

Cricinfo staff

November 22, 2007

Tasmania 214 (Bailey 86, Dighton 63, Bollinger 6-68) and 4 for 141 (Birt 68*, Butterworth 62*, Bollinger 4-36) trail New South Wales 7 for 512 dec by 157 runs
Scorecard

Doug Bollinger's first ten-wicket haul put New South Wales within sight of victory © Getty Images

Doug Bollinger picked up three wickets in four balls to register his first ten-wicket match and put New South Wales on the brink of an innings victory against Tasmania. Bollinger bundled out four of the Tigers' top five batsmen for ducks in their second innings before a fightback from Travis Birt and Luke Butterworth steadied Tasmania's freefall.

At the close the Tigers still trailed by 157, reaching 4 for 141 with Birt on 68 and Butterworth on 62. Bollinger was on a hat-trick in his second over, when he had Michael Di Venuto caught behind from the third ball and Daniel Marsh lbw. George Bailey survived the next delivery but no more than that, giving Bollinger his tenth victim for the game.

The Tigers were 4 for 11 by that stage, as Bollinger had already bowled Michael Dighton from the first ball of the innings. The Butterworth and Birt partnership rescued Tasmania from complete annihilation and left the scorecard even more lopsided than in the first innings.

Bollinger was also the first-innings destroyer and he helped finish the job by adding Brett Geeves (15) to his overnight total of five wickets. That left him with a career-best 6 for 68, while Nathan Bracken and Beau Casson played a part in wrapping up the Tigers' tail for 214.

Simon Katich enforced the follow-on after a rain delay early in the day suggested the Blues might not have their full allotment of overs to dismiss Tasmania a second time. Bad light stopped play during the final session but the Tigers still faced a major challenge to avoid defeat and put their title defence back on track.

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