A pair of four-wicket hauls from all-rounder James Faulkner and part-timer Evan Gulbis have led Tasmania to a 67-run bonus-point victory over Western Australia in their Ryobi Cup clash at the WACA Ground.
Scorecard
A pair of four-wicket hauls from all-rounder James Faulkner and part-timer Evan Gulbis have led Tasmania to a 67-run bonus-point victory over Western Australia in their Ryobi Cup clash at the WACA Ground.
Gulbis changed the momentum of the match with a remarkable spell, where he took 4-0 in 13 balls to help dismiss the Warriors for just 164 within 35 overs in their chase of a modest target of 232.
And Faulkner took three early wickets before helping to clean up the tail, finishing with 4-48 off seven overs.
WA appeared in with a chance when they were 4-108 in the 20th over when Gulbis was brought on, but the medium-pacer, who was playing in his first game for Tasmania after beginning his career in Victoria, ensured his new side took the points.
The 25-year-old Gulbis, who hadn't bowled in any of his three previous One-Day Cup matches, finished with 4-8 off five overs.
Ben Hilfenhaus (1-47) was the other successful bowler against WA, who lost 4-1 at one point.
Only Liam Davis (38), former Tasmanian Travis Birt (25) and tailender Nathan Coulter-Nile (23) provided any serious resistance for the hosts, who let the Tigers recover from what appeared to be serious trouble late in their innings.
After the Warriors won the toss and sent Tasmania into bat, the visitors lost 6-36 at one point and slumped to be 8-179 before tailenders Jason Krejza (26 off 21 balls) and Luke Butterworth (21 off 27) helped them to register a competitive total.
Krejza and Butterworth put on 34 runs for the ninth wicket, before the paceman and Hilfenhaus added a further 18 runs for the 10th to support the decent scores from top-order batsmen Mark Cosgrove (43) and Ed Cowan (40).
Coulter-Nile was the best performer with the ball for WA, finishing with 4-66, while Michael Beer claimed two wickets and Michael Hogan bowled well for his 1-43 off 13 overs.
The Warriors had few problems scoring early in their chase but wickets in hand soon became a problem when North and Davis fell either side of 18-year-old debutant Cameron Bancroft (one) as they slumped to 3-63.
Birt briefly consolidated the innings but his departure sparked the beginning of Gulbis' magic, as he dismissed Tom Beaton (seven), Luke Ronchi and Nathan Rimmington (both ducks) shortly after, which meant the Warriors had lost 7-59 and 8-76.
Coulter-Nile provided some late excitement for the hosts as he smashed 23 off 32 balls in a 31-run ninth-wicket stand before Faulkner trapped him LBW and Hogan was run out for eight.
