A double-century stand between Ed Cowan and Jon Wells put the PKF Tasmanian Tigers within sight of a home Ryobi Cup final, helping them chase down Queensland's 8-282 with 16-balls to spare.
Bought together when Alistair McDermott removed Mark Cosgrove (1) in the third over of the chase, Cowan (125) and Wells (121 not out) added 223-runs for the second wicket, ripping the game away from the Bulls with a vicious display of heavy hitting and superb shot-making.
It was the PKF Tigers' third-highest one-day partnership for any wicket and will be enough to bring South Australia to Hobart for the final on February 25 if the Redbacks fail to beat Victoria in Melbourne this weekend.
By the time the pair were split when Cowan was run-out by Ben Dunk in bizarre circumstances, the PKF Tigers had reached 2-228 in the 38th over, surpassing the 226-runs needed to avoid a bonus-point loss that would have given Queensland some hope of leap-frogging Tasmania into the decider against South Australia.
Cowan's 109-ball innings featured his full range of shots, a number of his cuts and cover-drives particularly impressive on a benign pitch at Blundstone Arena.
While he started in circumspect fashion, intent on re-building after the early loss of Cosgrove, Cowan opened up once he passed 50 and raced from half-century to triple figures in just 29-deliveries, an imperious driven six off leg-spinner Cameron Boyce signalling his intent to accelerate.
His century came up from 94 balls, featuring 13 boundaries and two sixes as he gave the PKF Tigers great impetus in their pursuit of the 283-run victory target.
While Cowan's blazing innings will live long in the memory, it didn't totally overshadow the performance of young opener Wells, who bought up triple figures from 125-balls, his first century for Tasmania.
Wells' previous highest Ryobi Cup score was just 20 and despite having a couple of lucky escapes along the way, his dig may prove a watershed in what is considered a promising young career.
Missed at slip on seven and again when he should have been stumped by fumbling 'keeper Dunk on 45, Wells hit 10 boundaries and looked to rotate the strike for his senior partner whenever possible.
He gave another chance on 101, this time saved on video evidence having been originally given out LBW to Boyce.
It was PKF Tigers' captain George Bailey that seemed to champion Wells' cause, convincing the umpires to review the decision and signalling for the diminutive right-hander not to leave the field before the review was complete.
Bailey looked in superb touch during his short cameo of 22 from 21 deliveries, caught in the deep within sight of victory with the score at 3-262.
The winning runs came up in the 48th over, Wells nudging Boyce through point to pick up a single, pushing the Tigers to 3-283 and into the final.
After blasting their way to 8-282 through the efforts of Chris Lynn (98), Nathan Reardon (76) and Joe Burns (48), the Bulls lacked penetration with the ball.
McDermott threatened during his opening spell, and despite returning the tidy figures of 1-26, couldn't bring his side into the picture. Boyce finished with 1-72 to be the only other wicket taker for Queensland.
In the end, they bowed themselves out of the Ryobi Cup competition in rather meek circumstances and will need to rebound strongly in the Bupa Sheffield Shield contest starting on Friday to overcome an improving and confident home side.