Straker's strikes set up imminent Bulls victory

Queensland need 19 runs to defeat the Sheffield Shield-leading Tasmania after bad light ensured no chase would be possible on the third evening.

With 20 minutes of scheduled play remaining, the Bulls bowled out the Tigers for 233 under a dull Brisbane sky with spinners operating from both ends. But with the gloom not improving, Tasmania told the umpires they wanted to bowl their fast bowlers leaving officials no choice but to call stumps.

After Tassie avoided an innings defeat eight wickets down, Mitch Swepson and Marnus Labuschagne took the final two wickets with the visitors' lead a measly 18 runs.

Beginning the day 215 runs adrift, Tasmania stonewalled for the majority of day three, operating with a run rate of around two for most of Friday's proceedings.

Tom Straker's middle session spell that yielded him 2-9, and the wickets of Jake Doran and Caleb Jewell, set the Bulls on the path to victory.

The 21-year-old was his state's best bowler on his way to 4-33 and would have been a good chance to take his maiden Shield five-wicket haul if bad light didn't prevent the quicks from bowling late.

"I don't care (about the milestone). We got the 10 wickets so I'm happy to get off the field," Straker said after play.

"There was no secret, just being patient. We're always trying to bowl overs under two (runs per over), we did that a fair bit today and the rewards came."

Four wickets before lunch had Queensland charging towards their second win of the season but it was a stand of 91 between Nikhil Chaudhary and Matt Kuhnemann that changed the context of the day.

What was blossoming as the Tigers' best stand of the match had some tribulations, such as a big mid-pitch collision by the duo that left Chaudhary on his backside and some heated verbals exchanged between Kuhnemann and Queensland captain Labuschagne.

The pair batted 30 overs together and looked certain to push Tassie into the lead but were both undone – in consecutive balls – by the second new ball.

2026-27 Sheffield Shield standings

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	3	2	0	0	1	0	0	2.31	2.9	18.21
2 Western Australia Men WA	3	2	0	0	1	0	0	2.53	2.5	18.03
3 Queensland Bulls QLD	3	1	1	0	1	0	-1	2.18	3	11.18
4 South Australia Men SA	3	1	2	0	0	0	0	1.42	2.4	9.82
5 NSW Men NSW	3	0	1	0	2	0	0	4.77	2.4	9.17
6 Victoria Men VIC	3	0	2	0	1	0	0	1.58	2.4	4.98

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