An under-siege Queensland received an early battering from Victoria before Andy Bichel ignited a late fightback on the opening day of the Pura Cup clash at the Gabba.

The Bushrangers, without Australian batsman Brad Hodge for the first time this season, made the most of skipper Cameron White's decision to send Queensland into bat on a wicket custom made for seamers.

White had little hesitation in giving the Bulls first use of a greenish Gabba wicket with overcast and humid conditions combining to make life difficult for Queensland's batsmen.

Victorian quicks Mick Lewis and Gerard Denton finished with four wickets apiece as the Bulls were bowled out in their first innings for a paltry 169 shortly before the tea interval.

In reply, the Bushrangers crashed to 6-126 at stumps and were in danger of missing out on first innings points.

Victoria was saved from any further losses though when the umpires called stumps despite two overs remaining and the sun still shining over the ground.

Under new playing rules introduced prior to this season by Cricket Australia, play cannot extend past 30 minutes over the scheduled completion time with a daily quotient of 96 overs to be bowled.

Queensland coach Terry Oliver said CA should look at changing the interpretation of the rule after 16 wickets fell during the day. The two overs are now lost to the game.

"The umpires interpreted the law correctly but I think this is something Cricket Australia has to look at in the future," Oliver said.

"If we're fair dinkum about playing as much cricket as we can then coming off the field when the sun is shining doesn't make sense to me".

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