Bulls fall short against Victoria

A sensational double century stand between David Hussey and Cameron White has taken the Bushrangers to a 12-run victory over Queensland tonight at the Gabba, after posting the mammoth target of 295 for the Bulls to pursue.

The duo of Hussey (130) and White (85) combined for a 205-run partnership, lifting the Victorians from the poor position of 2-11 to end the innings at 6-294.

Captain White was also handy with the ball for the Vics, taking the dazzling figures of 4-23 off six overs, and restricting the Bulls to 282, still 13 runs adrift of the target set by Victoria.

Queensland openers Matthew Hayden and Jimmy Maher started steadily in pursuit of the Vics total, bringing up the 50 for the Bulls off 75 balls without loss.

Hayden marched on with a plethora of attacking strokes, bringing up his half-century off 67 balls.

The pair of Hayden and Maher started hitting their straps, slashing balls through all areas of the ground and sharing in a 99-run stand before Hayden (53) was caught behind off the bowling of Shane Harwood in the 22nd over.

All-rounder Shane Watson strode to the crease on return from injury at number three, and became the aggressor immediately, lifting the Bulls run-rate to almost five an over.

The Bushrangers eventually broke through, with White and Andrew McDonald dismissing Maher (62) and Watson (31) within three overs of each over.

The Bulls next three wickets fell in quick succession, with White collecting the scalps of Clinton Perren (10), Steve Paulsen (7) and Andrew Bichel (0) in his next three overs.

Brendan Nash managed to belt a dashing 46 off 34 balls, before being knocked over by Harwood.

The dismissal of Nash left the Bulls reeling without a formidable batsman, and fell 13 runs short of victory after the run-rate had climbed to over ten runs an over.

Earlier in the day, the Victorians started shakily, with in-form opener Michael Klinger (0) being caught off the bowling of Chris Hartley in the first over of the day.

Only one over later Lloyd Mash (0) was sent back to the pavilion, edging a pearler of a delivery from Mitchell Johnson into the hands of a juggling Clinton Perren at gully.

Jonathan Moss began building the platform for the Bushrangers, belting 43 off 45 balls before being clean-bowled by a straight Michael Kasprowicz delivery, falling two runs short of sharing in a 50-run stand with Hussey.

Hussey and White launched off the platform laid by Moss, and preceded to dissect the Bulls bowling attack, flaying the ball all over the ground.

The record-breaking partnership brought up their final 50 runs off only 32 balls, as Queensland struggled for ideas.

Australian discard Kasprowicz had the last laugh, dismissing both Hussey and White within three deliveries, to finish with the reasonable figures of 3-48 off 10 overs.

Next week sees the Bulls host the dangerous Blues at the Gabba for a Pura Cup clash on Thursday, while the Bushrangers will go head to head with the Redbacks in another day/nighter on Sunday at Adelaide Oval.

Full scorecard available here.

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