A career-best bowling haul from Andrew McDonald has allowed Victoria to live to fight another day in the Ryobi Cup after they pulled off a gutsy 12-run victory against Queensland.
A career-best bowling haul from Andrew McDonald has allowed Victoria to live to fight another day in the Ryobi Cup after they pulled off a gutsy 12-run victory against Queensland in their crucial day-night clash at the MCG on Wednesday.
Things didn't look promising for the Bushrangers who batted first and could only manage 237 on what appeared to be a batsman-friendly deck under clear, sunny skies.
But Andrew McDonald (5-38 off 9.1 overs) and Clint McKay (2-29 off 10) led the way for the hosts as they proceeded to bowl out the second-placed Bulls for 225 after 48.1 overs.
McDonald took his last four wickets for just eight runs off 11 balls to clean up Queensland's tail in style.
The win propels Victoria to third on the table and was the Bushrangers' third win on the trot after starting the campaign with three losses in a row.
The Bulls' run chase got off to a dream start when opener Ben Dunk (13 off 13 balls) cracked three boundaries from the opening over of the dig off McKay.
But things took a dramatically bad turn for the visitors when they lost their first three wickets for 12 runs in the space of 32 balls.
Peter Forrest (27 off 48 balls) and Nathan Reardon (53 off 80) then set about stopping the haemorrhaging but right after hitting the Bulls' first boundary in seven overs, Forrest also edged one to Matthew Wade off McDonald in the 17th over to leave the Bulls struggling on 4-61.
However, James Hopes (39 off 41) and Reardon stabilised Queensland's innings with a 79-run fifth-wicket stand and were the first partnership that looked capable of setting up a Bulls win.
The pair scored runs almost at will, including 41 off 42 at one stage, and their union was highlighted by a huge six which Reardon smacked off Cameron White over long on in the 32nd over to go with his four boundaries.
McKay then re-entered the attack in the 33rd over with immediate effect and broke up the ominous partnership when he had Hopes, who clocked five fours, caught behind by Wade who ended up with four catches.
Reardon joined Hopes back in the pavilion three overs later after a terrible mix-up saw him run out by David Hussey.
Michael Neser (22 off 25) and Paulsen (36 off 43) revived Queensland hopes with a 50-run stand, including 12 off Boland in the 39th over, but when the Bulls appeared to be in control of the match again, McDonald struck to dismiss Neser and Paulsen in the space of three balls and cleaned up the tail to hand the Vics a vital win.
Earlier, Hopes tore through Victoria's top order and Alister McDermott (4-30 off 10.4) mopped up the bottom order in what was a fine pace bowling exhibition.
Hopes was instrumental in restricting Victoria to their modest total by claiming the crucial wickets of Wade (six off 14), Cameron White (15 off 29), McDonald (eight off nine) and Aaron Finch (71 off 106) who stuck around as his top-order team-mates came and went with little impact.
Things were looking grim for the Vics when they found themselves on 5-94 but a total disaster was averted thanks to some middle-order resistance from Finch, Rob Quiney (38 off 46) and Glenn Maxwell (50 off 37) who blasted a whirlwind half-century including six boundaries and two huge sixes.
Finch was bowled by Hopes in the 36th over after combining well with Quiney to post 51 for the sixth wicket.
Undeterred by the perilous position their state found themselves in at 6-145, Quiney and Maxwell went about punishing the Bulls pace attack and at one stage clobbered 42 off four overs.
The highlight was when Maxwell opened up Cameron Gannon's (1-44 off nine) ninth over with a four, six and a four.
But when Quiney was caught by Chris Lynn off McDermott in the 45th over, the Bushrangers offered little more resistance as they lost their last four scalps for just 25 runs.
