Ben Cutting launched another rescue mission late on the third day of the Bupa Sheffield Shield match between Queensland and PKF Tasmania Tigers in Hobart, but even his heavy hitting is unlikely to be enough to save the Bulls from outright defeat following another troubling batting collapse.
Cutting top-scored with 57-not-out, the second time he's done so in this match, to lead a revival that dragged the Bulls from 8-118 to 9-201 when bad light stopped play, a lead of 146 runs over the defending Shield champions.
He found a willing ally in fellow bowler Steve Magoffin (24) and the pair added 66 for the ninth wicket to give the visitors a total they at least have some hope of defending on a wicket that is still offering some assistance to the quick men.
Jackson Bird (3-63) and Luke Butterworth (3-39) did the bulk of the damage for the PKF Tigers, but no-one had an answer to Cutting's free-wheeling ways and the big Queenslander may be able to offer his top-order teammates some advice after they failed to fire in either innings at Blundstone Arena.
Bulls captain Chris Hartley also fired from the hip during his 36-run stay at the crease but was bowled shouldering arms to a Bird delivery that nipped back from outside off stump.
In all, 14 wickets fell so far on a day that saw the PKF Tigers slip from 5-221 overnight to be all out for 260 midway through the morning session.
Alister McDermott bobbed up to bag three wickets in quick succession to be the leading Bulls wicket taker alongside Cutting.
The Queensland reply started badly when they limped to lunch at 3-29 and there was no arresting the slide until Cutting opened his shoulders to frustrate the PKF Tigers bowlers.
He bought up his second half-century of the match with a huge six over midwicket, Brendan Drew (1-57) the recipient of this and other vicious treatment from the marauding number nine.
The PKF Tigers will fancy their chances of pushing for the outright win on Monday but the chase will be bigger than they’d hoped it would be when the Bulls were firmly on the ropes mid-afternoon.
One positive for the home side is that they will regain the services of George Bailey for the final day after he was flown to Brisbane as cover for the Australian ODI side.