Matthew Hayden has turned the heat up further on Simon Katich by leading Queensland to a nine-wicket one-day thumping of Tasmania at the Gabba.

World Cup aspirant Hayden mixed power with panache in a dominant 91 (124 balls) as the Bulls cruised to a bonus-point Ford Ranger Cup victory in the 39th over.

The big left-hander played the senior role in a 164-run opening stand with long-time Bulls partner Jimmy Maher (69 not out) on a tacky Brisbane wicket which made for tough going against the new ball.

With Katich under the gun as Adam Gilchrist's partner when the Champions Trophy kicks off next week, Hayden's knock underlined his case for a full reinstatement after a promising return for Australia in Malaysia last month.

Maher, who became the first player to score 4000 domestic one-day runs when he reached 24, was convinced Hayden should have a flight booked for the Caribbean next March.

"Even if he got a duck tonight what more could he do? What claims as he got to put forward? He's one of the best five batsmen in the world in both forms of the game I think," he said.

"He's got to be playing for Australia at the World Cup, there's no doubt about that. He's a class act.

"If he bats like that tonight we (Queensland) won't see much more of him."

The century partnership ended a terrible day for the visitors who had precious little to smile about after winning the toss and batting.

Bulls quick Ashley Noffke (3-30), bowling with swing and seam under cloudy skies, immediately had the Tigers on the back foot by taking 3-9 with his first 22 balls.

Then ageless veteran Andy Bichel delivered the near killer blow by having danger man Michael Bevan out for a 10-ball duck, caught skying a pull shot.

"Winning the toss turned out to be a bad thing for us," skipper Dan Marsh lamented. "We had to get through the new ball and we couldn't do that.

"Too many big shots too early."

Bichel also made a telling blow in the field by spectacularly catching young opener Tim Paine (26) on the boundary.

But the 36-year-old didn't have it all his way, straining an abdominal muscle while sliding in the field to be in doubt for the Pura Cup rematch starting Friday.

Spinner Xavier Doherty saved Tasmania from a complete embarrassment with a maiden half-century.

Doherty scored a rearguard 53 off 77 balls to help the Tigers to 172 after the visitors were looking down the barrel of a sub-100 total at 6-69 in the 26th over.

He gained fine support from all-rounder Luke Butterworth (36 off 63) in a 82-run seventh-wicket stand but once Doherty fell Tasmania collapsed to lose 4-21.

Rising paceman Ben Hilfenhaus solidified his growing reputation despite failing to take an early wicket for the Tigers under the Gabba lights.

Swinging the ball while bowling at speeds up to the 145kph mark, Hilfenhaus had both openers in trouble at times and was unlucky not to have Maher leg before in single figures.

The five-point result was a major encouragement to the Bulls who won the Pura Cup last season but finished with the one-day wooden-spoon.

"We had to get out of the blocks quickly because last year we were awful in one-day cricket to be fair," Maher said.

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