Tasmania break Vic resistance to steal a thriller in Hobart

Tasmania have held off Victoria by four runs to win a Sheffield Shield thriller in Hobart.

Gabe Bell captured his sixth wicket of the innings when he had No.10 batter Harry Hoekstra edging behind to seal the Tigers' first victory of the season, with the Vics bowled out for 266, just short of their 271-run target.

It made Tasmania the only team in the competition's 134-year history to win a match by four runs, with the margin the eighth narrowest of all-time by runs.

It was the second thriller in a year at Bellerive Oval after Tasmania also beat Western Australia by three runs in round two last season.

Bell (6-72 from 25 overs) claimed the last two wickets of the match as Victoria lost 3-12 to see the six points slip from their grasp.

Liam Blackford (80 off 139 balls) and Fergus O'Neill (53 off 75) played superb hands but couldn't get Victoria over the line. The pair came together with the Vics seven down and still requiring 100 runs to win but rallied to have the visitors on the brink of a stunning fightback before the former slashed wildly outside off stump off Marcus Bean (2-62).

The ball flew quickly off Blackford's top edge to Tigers skipper Jordan Silk at slip who held on to end the 81-run partnership.

O'Neill then chanced his arm against the new ball but his lofted drive found Riley Meredith at deep point to leave Victoria 9-263 with their final pairing of David Moody and Hoekstra at the crease.

Bell, who also scored 35 valuable runs on day three to give his side a target to defend, took off with his arms aloft toward the Tasmanian dugout after wicketkeeper Jake Doran took the game-clinching catch.

"We've played in a few (matches like that) in the past few years, and we've probably taken a little bit of belief from winning those close ones," Silk said post-match.

"The scenes at the end are obviously like, it's jubilation, you put four days of hard work into it. It's devastating, I'm sure, if you're on the other end of it (but) jubilant for us.

"Especially early season, you want to be banking some wins. While we haven't brought our best cricket we believe this week, that should also give the group plenty of confidence going forward – get a few guys in form and we'll be a strong team come the back end of the season."

Victoria began the final day with a daunting task ahead of them, needing a further 173 runs with only five second innings wickets remaining.

Left-handers Marcus Harris (63 off 157 balls) and Blackford resumed on Thursday morning and edged the visitors closer in a patient 51-run partnership across 20 overs before towering quick Bean found Harris' edge in eerily similar fashion to how Blackford would later be dismissed.

Captain Will Sutherland (3) came and went quickly, becoming Bell's third victim of the second innings when he lost his off-stump bail trying to defend.

That brought second-gamer Blackford and O'Neill together, who fought back valiantly before Bell intervened late.

Ben McDermott was awarded the Scott Mason Medal as player of the match for his first-innings century, which came after he retired hurt early in his innings with a "debilitating" back spasm.

His 128 lifted Tasmania to 241 on day one after they lost their first seven wickets for 45 runs.

"It was a special innings, I'm glad he got the medal," Silk added.

"There was obviously some late drama and 'Belly' could have got it as well, but I think that innings on day one, when your team's at 7-45, to pull us out of that, get another 200 runs and post a special hundred for himself, his first one back in our colours, I'm sure it means a lot and gives him a lot of confidence.

"It's big for our group, having a player like him come back into our team.

"That innings was as important as all the other little moments that happened in this game, which culminated in us getting a win."

Victoria's rookie left-armer Hoekstra finished with nine wickets for the match (5-46 and 4-52) as Tasmania made 236 in the second innings after the visitors replied with 207.

Victoria, runners-up last season, have lost both of their games to start the 2026-27 season, while Tasmania have risen to the top of the standings after drawing their opening match with NSW.

Round 1

Team	Matches played M	Wins W	Losses L	Ties T	Drawn D	No results N/R	Deductions Ded.	Batting Bonus Bat	Bowling Bonus Bowl	Total points PTS
1 Tasmanian Tigers Men TAS	2	1	0	0	1	0	0	0.86	1.9	9.76
2 South Australia Men SA	2	1	1	0	0	0	0	1.42	2	9.42
3 Queensland Bulls QLD	2	1	1	0	0	0	-1	1.45	2	8.45
4 Western Australia Men WA	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	7
5 NSW Men NSW	1	0	0	0	1	0	0	3	1	5
6 Victoria Men VIC	2	0	2	0	0	0	0	0.51	1.6	2.11

Legend

M: Matches played

W: Wins

L: Losses

T: Ties

D: Drawn

N/R: No results

Ded.: Deductions

Bat: Batting Bonus

Bowl: Bowling Bonus

PTS: Total points