Rob Forsaith at The Gabba
A sterling rear-guard stand between keeper Chris Hartley and paceman Chris Swan has helped boost Queensland to a total of 236 on day one of their Sheffield Shield clash against Tasmania at the Gabba.
Ashley Noffke then struck late with the ball to see the Tigers reduced to 1-5 in reply after opener Michael Dighton (zero) proved unable to negotiate the 4.4 overs before stumps were pulled.
Earlier Swan (76 not out) and Hartley (55) flayed the Tasmanian attack as they came together for a 135-run ninth-wicket stand to help add respect to the Bulls scorecard after the home side suffered a horror start.
Tasmania had Queensland reeling at a staggering 4-13 and then 8-91 before the pair rescued the Bulls, with Swan the unlikely hero as he easily eclipsed his previous first-class best of 23.
The partnership was finally brought to an end when an amazing diving catch from Rhett Lockyear at square leg had Hartley back in the stands.
It was a bitter-sweet result for the Tigers, with Hartley having earlier edged his first delivery, only for George Bailey to drop a tough chance in the slips.
In the beginning it had been all one-way traffic as Tasmanian new-ball duo Ben Hilfenhaus (2-45) and Brett Geeves (2-63) made the most of overcast conditions to wreak havoc for the Bulls top order.
Queensland lost their opening four wickets in just 28 minutes, with out-of-favour Australian all-rounder Andrew Symonds (five) the most notable victim.
Symonds could only manage six minutes at the crease before he attempted to cover drive and instead edged a wide ball from Hilfenhaus.
Rain interrupted play half-way through the morning session when the Bulls were stranded on 4-22, but it failed to dent the Tigers' spirit as they continued to run riot when the match resumed at 1.20pm local time.
Tim MacDonald chimed in with career best figures of 4-42 as the wickets continued to tumble, with Greg Moller (33), Chris Simpson (15) and Noffke (20) the only other batsmen to make it into double figures.
The match will resume early at 9.30am local time on both Saturday and Sunday to make up for the overs lost due to the inclement weather.
Queensland innings
R Broad c Paine b Geeves 3 (12)
J Hopes b Hilfenhaus 1(2)
M Love c Butterworth b Geeves 4 (14)
A Symonds c Butterworth b Hilfenhaus 5 (9)
G Moller b Doherty 33 (35)
C Simpson lbw MacDonald 15 (26)
A Noffke c Marsh b Butterworth 20 (39)
C Hartley c Lockyear b MacDonald 55 (99)
R Harris b MacDonald 7 (4)
C Swan not out 76 (84)
D Doran c Dighton b MacDonald 6 (10)
Extras: 4 (4b, 4lb, 3nb)
Total: 236 10 wickets; 55.1 overs)
FoW: 1-2, 2-8, 3-13, 4-13, 5-39, 6-84, 7-84, 8-91, 9-226, 10-236
Bowling:
B Geeves 10 - 0 - 63 – 2
B Hilfenhaus 14 – 3 – 45 -2 (1nb)
T MacDonald 10.1 – 1 – 42 – 4 (1nb)
L Butterworth 12 – 3 – 42 – 1 (1nb)
X Doherty 6 – 0 – 19 – 1
D Marsh 3 – 0 – 17 – 0
Tasmanian innings:
R Lockyear not out 5 (15)
M Dighton c Love b Noffke 0 (10)
T Birt not out 0 (3)
Extras: 0
Total: 5 (1 wicket; 4.4 overs)
FoW: 1-5
Bowling:
A Noffke 2.4 - 1 - 1 – 1
R Harris 2 - -1 – 4 – 0