Michael Brown, Cricket Australia’s acting chief executive, has described Ricky Ponting’s latest breach of the ICC code of conduct during his side’s DLF cup win against the West Indies as “unacceptable”. Brown did concede, however, that he was heartened by Ponting’s apology to Asad Rauf, the umpire, his team and the public.Ponting appraoched Rauf after the umpire called a wide in the innings’ 33rd over and questioned his decision. The incident led to Ponting being fined his entire match fee. “Let’s be clear, Cricket Australia doesn’t condone any actions that go outside the Spirit of Cricket. We’ve worked very hard with Ricky and our players to ensure it is observed at all times,” Brown told the Melbourne-based .”It’s a concern for Ricky and it’s a concern for us,” he added. “But the fact he’s taken the initiative to publicly and privately address these issues will ensure he and his team go forward from here. We’ve got to be positive in that regard.”Ponting spoke to Brown after his side’s remarkable and ultimately comfortable win over West Indies in the tri-series opener on Tuesday. “As the game finished late last night I was very keen to understand what had happened and obviously very keen to reaffirm our position, and to make clear to him that it was unacceptable,” Brown said.”I’m very heartened to see that Ricky has taken it upon himself to acknowledge his actions and publicly apologise. In the end what matters is that the Australian cricket team will continue to play this series hard and fair … We look forward to him learning from the experience.”He might have to do that quickly for there are fears now that any further outbursts now or in the Ashes later this year could lead to a possible suspension for a Test. This was Ponting’s second such offence in the past year – the other took place during the second Test in Bangladesh in April – and it is why the charge was upgraded to a level-two offence. Ponting was also fined during the fourth Ashes Test in 2005 for an outburst directed at the England dressing room after he was run out by the substitute fielder Gary Pratt.The level-two offence – serious dissent – can carry a suspension of two ODIs or one Test, and the match referee is entitled to consider the player’s previous history. The newspaper said than an ICC source had indicated Ponting had been warned after his latest breach that he was on dangerous ground and could face a ban were he to slip up again in similar fashion.

Chaminda Vaas, Sri Lanka’s strike bowler, said the difference between the team that lost the one-day and Test series to India last season and the current one was that the present squad was more united under Mahela Jayawardene.”Mahela has shown good leadership qualities. We are more united now and each player knows his responsibility in the team while in the past things were left to the other one [(to complete],” said Vaas. ahead of Sri Lanka’s match against the West Indies.Both Sri Lanka and West Indies have already qualified for the second stage of the ten-team event. The other two teams in the preliminary stage, Zimbabwe and Bangladesh, have already been eliminated.Vaas felt the qualifying stage of the tournament had provided good match practice for the teams. “They have been good practice games for the task ahead. The game against the West Indies would be a good match. We have played well [so far].”.

Mohammad Asif and Shoaib Akhtar are likely to appeal against the bans handed to them by the Pakistan board-appointed drug tribunal.Asif told Cricinfo he would appeal against the decision to ban him for a year and said that he couldn’t explain the presence of nandrolone in his urine sample. “I will appeal against this. I don’t know how this has happened. I wasn’t even aware of the dope test and I was the one who gave it first.”The tribunal’s verdict revealed that Asif had been using a protein supplement, Promax-50, but stopped using it as soon as he was told to do so by Darren Lifsun, the team physiotherapist. It is thought possible that this was the cause of the positive sample. “Obviously I am very disappointed about what has happened. I had no idea.”The case for Asif’s ignorance may be strengthened in light of the tribunal’s finding that the board has not played a satisfactory role in ensuring that its players are suitably cautioned and advised about such issues.Shoaib, facing a two-year ban, has not made any official statement as of now but sources close to him have confirmed that he will also appeal. One source believes a strong enough case exists to lighten the ban.Tauseef Razzaq, Shoaib’s doctor, also said that Shoaib was devastated by the decision and would definitely appeal against the ban. “There are a number of examples where athletes were given the benefit of the doubt for using substances unknowingly and there are studies by renowned universities of the world on whose basis Akhtar should have been cleared,” Razzaq told AFP, referring to Shoaib’s claim last month that he had not knowingly taken any performance-enhancing drugs.The PCB has stated that a new tribunal will be set up in case the players appeal, as seems likely now.

Mathew Sinclair, New Zealand’s opening batsman who was recenty recalled, is hoping to secure a permanent spot in the side with the two-Test series against Sri Lanka starting December 7.”After the World Cup they’re [New Zealand] going back to 10 Test matches [next season]. I see these two Tests as an intro to get back in there,” Sinclair told the .The first Test in Christchurch will be a comeback for Sinclair who was given a central contract with New Zealand Cricket for the 2006-07 season after missing out on one last year. “I’ve been in and out of the side so many times now, I can’t count,” said Sinclair. “Now I’ve been given a fantastic opportunity. It takes me back a few years to when I was making my debut for New Zealand. It has that same feeling about it.”There’s going to be a lot of pressure around it all. With the lads not going well [in the Champions Trophy] as far as the top order is concerned, collectively we have to get together here and nut out how we’re going to put big scores up.”Sinclair, who was picked on the basis of his domestic performance in this season and the last, said that he had talked to John Bracewell, the New Zealand coach, before the team left for the Champions Trophy in India in October and had asked what was expected of him. Advised to be consistently the best domestic player, Sinclair did just that, making a century against Northern Districts two days before the Test squad was announced.In the last season’s State Championship Sinclair made 723 runs at 51.64 from nine games with three hundreds and five fifties.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out

Any hopes of India turning the corner after the Twenty20 victory was quickly dispelled as South Africa drubbed them by nine wickets to seal a hopelessly one-sided series 4-0. India batted through their 50 overs for the first time in the series, but their total of 200 for 9 was completely inadequate on a belter. However, South Africa showed just good the pitch was for batting as they cruised home in 31.2 overs, with Graeme Smith returning to form with an emphatic 79 and AB de Villiers stroking a delightful unbeaten 92, his highest score in ODIs.In another mismatch, India had very small crumbs for comfort – Sachin Tendulkar overcame an uncertain start and finally found some touch, getting to 55, his 74th ODI half-century but only his second fifty-plus score in 20 matches against South Africa in South Africa. Mahendra Singh Dhoni got among the runs too, but the manner in which Smith and de Villiers smashed the bowlers all around the park highlighted the huge gulf in class between the bowlers from the two sides: led by the magnificent Shaun Pollock, the South Africans were their usual miserly self in the field, allowing the already beleaguered Indians no freebies.The Indian bowlers, on the other hand, were clueless about how to stop the marauding openers. Zaheer Khan has utterly dominated Smith on this tour, but South Africa cleverly decided to have de Villiers face the first ball this time. Smith, meanwhile, helped himself to plenty of boundaries from a radarless Sreesanth – a cover-drive and a flick in Sreesanth’s first over got him going, and there was no looking back. By the time Smith finally faced Zaheer for the first time in the match – in the ninth over – he had already made 21 from 17 balls.De Villiers, meanwhile, creamed the boundaries in an utterly pleasing knock. Quite comfortable against Zaheer, he started off with an exquisite cover-drive off the third ball of the innings, and continued in similar vein, driving crisply off the front foot and timing the ball quite spectacularly. India’s one chance to break through came early, but Mohammad Kaif made a mess of a regulation chance when de Villiers was on 9.South Africa had 88 on the board after the first 15, and with Sehwag deciding to pack the infield almost throughout the innings, the batsmen had it their way all through. Smith strode down the pitch to Irfan Pathan and took some revenge on Zaheer, hoicking them both for straight sixes. When he fell attempting another six, South Africa were so utterly in control that Pollock strode out at No.3 and immediately looked at home.The Indian innings, on the other hand, was a struggle almost throughout. Smith won his fifth toss in a row but this time decided to put India in, and though Sehwag was all smiles and said he would have batted first anyway, it was soon the same story as all the batsmen found Pollock and Ntini too tough to handle.

Sehwag’s technique outside off was soon exposed by the relentless Pollock, who nailed him for the sixth time in ODIs, while Laxman’s initiation here was even more forgettable, as he hung his bat out limply outside off and edged his first ball to slip. Tendulkar, meanwhile, was in all sorts of discomfort. Struggling to find his footwork, he repeatedly played from the crease and was beaten by the movement. Ntini cut him in half with one that dipped back, while the steep bounce consistently had him jumping up and defending uncomfortably. After 15 overs, India’s score read a miserable 26 for 2.Having spent considerable time at the crease – he scored 4 from his first 39 balls – Tendulkar finally began to find his groove. The first sign of that came in the 18th over, when he struck Kallis for two super fours – a pull to midwicket and a trademark on-drive. The footwork gradually improved, as did the confidence to attempt more aggressive strokes, and the introduction of Peterson only helped matters, as Tendulkar unveiled the inside-out drive over extra-cover and the fine sweep.Andre Nel briefly had him in some bother, hitting his arm with a short one that didn’t bounce as much as Tendulkar expected it to – and forced him to stay off the field in the afternoon – but he soon after he got his half-century, with his last 51 runs taking just 58 balls.Mongia played his part well in an 85-run partnership for the third wicket, while Dhoni lashed some huge blows and finally injected some momentum into a limp innings with a 48-ball 44 during the course of which he drove Nel to distraction. Nel got hit for a few by Dhoni, but he finally came up with an outstanding catch to dismiss Dhoni as India touched 200 for the first time. On a flat batting pitch, though, it seemed well short of par score, and so it proved in the afternoon.It was India’s first defeat against South Africa at Centurion, having beaten them twice before this. With the Test series still 12 days away, India have plenty of soul-searching to do before getting into that contest.

South Africa 257 for 8 (Prince 98*, Gibbs 63, Boucher 53 ) v India
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out

The day began and ended with a rash of wickets, and only a meaty batting performance in between from Ashwell Prince and, to a lesser extent, Herschelle Gibbs and Mark Boucher, helped South Africa stave off a repeat of the abject first innings surrender at the Wanderers. India’s pacemen did the damage first up, and Anil Kumble quickly dispensed with the tail as South Africa got relief from their travails when bad light stopped play with the score on 257 for 8.Prince was the glue to hold the South African innings together after an early burst from Zaheer and Sreesanth had cut the top order to ribbons. He continued from where he left off in the first Test, where he made a battling 97 as South Africa went down. In the absence of Jacques Kallis, who missed this Test with a sore back, there was extra pressure on Prince and he delivered. From the time he came to the crease he occupied it with an unhurried approach, not allowing the pressure of the scoreboard to get to him – at no point did he try to accelerate the scoring, at no point did he play outside his own strengths.He was no slouch, however, when offered width, and on a wicket that eased out considerably as the day wore on, he drove pleasingly through cover and point. At the end of the day he was unbeaten on 98, on the cusp of his fifth century.Gibbs’s half-century was a timely one for him. The debate over his place in the team was gaining momentum after a run of indifferent scores and he was sent down the order, allowing AB de Villiers to open with Graeme Smith. Gibbs put away his vast array of exciting strokes and toughed it out. He accelerated as he approached and then, in an error of judgment, changed gears. He began to look more like the Gibbs of old, reaching out for deliveries outside the off stump, going forcefully at the ball with hard hands, and just taking the odd chance. On 63 his luck ran out as a wild pull went off the toe of the bat in front of first slip where Mahendra Dhoni snapped up a good catch. Gibbs had added 94 for the third wicket with Prince, pushing the score on to 122, but the manner and timing of his dismissal gave India just a glimmer of hope that they could still end the South African counter-attack in time to keep them down to a low score.Boucher then set about erasing these Indian hopes. Although he survived a couple of close chances, including lbw shouts that impressed everyone other than the umpire, Boucher looked comfortable and at ease at the crease. He did not look to score at a fast clip, yet his approach and outlook were consistently positive. If anything, it was Boucher’s resistance more than that of Gibbs or Prince that really troubled India. The fielding suddenly wasn’t as sharp as before, the excitable Sreesanth briefly lost the plot, charging in and trying too hard without much result. Then completely against the run of play, Sreesanth got one ball to shape in nicely and bowl Boucher through the gate for 53.

Prince moved along, collecting runs wherever they were available, safeguarding his wicket at all times, and even severe cramping – the heat and humidity were taking their toll – did not stop his determined march. In an era of dashers, in a team of top-order batsmen playing too many shots too early, Prince the grafter had served his team’s cause superbly well.However, they had, through a late collapse, got themselves back in trouble after a determined middle-order performance had saved them from yet another collpase. The day began badly for South Africa with Smith, ever finding new ways of getting out, pulling one from Zaheer straight up in the air over the slips cordon, where Sachin Tendulkar took a well-judged catch. Hashim Amla was then trapped in front by a Zaheer delivery that pitched in line and swung back enough to win the lbw verdict. 13 for 2 looked bad, but de Villiers made it worse at 28 for 3 when he planted his foot well withing the stumps and drove away from the body. The ball went off the outside edge straight to Tendulkar at slip. Zaheer had put in a sterling first spell of 6-3-5-2.But Zaheer would not pick up another wicket on the day and only the late-in-the day breakthrough for the largely luckless VRV Singh, got India back in control. VRV had Shaun Pollock well caught at point by Virender Sehwag, and soon after Kumble completely foxed Andrew Hall, trapping him right in front with a googly that the batsman did not pick. Andre Nel fared no better three balls later, and was bowled neck and crop by a similar wrong ‘un. That would prove to be the last over of the day as the batsmen accepted the offer for light. India were keen to wrap up the innings, but nevertheless will be well pleased with how events panned out.Short cuts

Highlight of the day: When Herschelle Gibbs is good, he can be very verygood. Some of the drives he played after lunch were simply majestic, andthere was one carve over point that brought back memories of thatrollicking 175 at the Wanderers in the 438 game.Lowlight of the day: Step forward Gibbs. Having cruised to 63 from 88balls, he played a truly appalling shot to a Sreesanth delivery thatclimbed a little. It allowed India a way back when it appeared that theymight have lost their way.Shot of the day: The Gibbs tale continues. Sreesanth pitched one up,trying to entice the drive early in his innings, and Gibbs responded withan absolutely glorious drive that rocketed into the boundary boards beforethe man at cover could barely stir.Ball of the day: The 140.2 km/h special from Sreesanth that made a hideousmess of Mark Boucher’s stumps. Again, the seam position was sensational,and it came in enough with the angle to sneak through Boucher’s prod.Catch of the day: Gibbs may have played a terrible shot, but it stillneeded a magnificent full-length dive to the right from Mahendra SinghDhoni to send him on his way.Message of the day: And just when Graeme Smith thought it couldn’t get anyworse. Two South African fans, shirtless and no doubt fuelled with lager, took out a banner soon after lunch. “Smith: Hope you’d scored morewith Minki [van der Westhuizen],” it said, a reference to his formergirlfriend. So much for not kicking a man when he’s down, and out [for 5].Off the park: Sachin Tendulkar made a quick trip to the hospital afterdropping Ashwell Prince off the bowing of VRV Singh before tea. X-raysrevealed no fracture, and the bruising on the right thumb shouldn’t hamperhim unduly when it’s India’s turn to bat.

ScorecardShortly before play began today, the theme song from the inspiration cricket-centric film Iqbal could be heard from the Karnataka dressing room, a sign of their confidence about the day’s play; next door, the Bengal camp was quiet, the atmosphere inside tense. With 236 runs to get on a fifth-day Eden Gardens wicket, the openers gone and a place in the Ranji Trophy final at stake, the home side were up against the odds.A little over five hours later, however, the tables had been turned as Bengal secured a convincing six-wicket victory. They now travel to Mumbai for the final, beginning next Friday, at the Wankhede Stadium.The win had been scripted on the first day itself, when their fast bowlers ran through Karnataka for 89; today it was the turn of their batsmen, especially Manoj Tiwary, the rookie, and his stupendous unbeaten 151. Tiwary and Abhishek Jhunjhunwala, another rookie, put on 164 for the third wicket as Bengal overcame their initial nerves and eventually wrapped up the match an hour after tea.This match had already seen some memorable performances – Ranadeb Bose’s 10-wicket haul, Sourav Sarkar’s supporting act with eight wickets, Karnataka’s turnaround second innings scripted by Bharat Chipli, Chandrashekar Raghu and Yere Goud.Yet it all boiled down to what would happen in the first hour of the last day, as both sides had admitted yesterday. And that’s where Tiwary, starting on his overnight score of 9, stood up to be counted. In stark contrast to his usual attacking style, Tiwary chose a defensive ploy, letting the ball go when in the corridor of uncertainty. Known for his incredible bat speed and ability to play the ball late, as he has shown this season with a 660-run aggregate, Tiwary waited for the odd delivery that strayed down middle and leg.If he was plain watchful, waiting for the odd loose ball, Jhunjhunwala was even more cautious, completely cutting down shots square of the wicket – an even greater departure from his flamboyant, elegant style.Balachandra Akhil, the Karnataka medium pacer who’d snapped up the Bengal openers yesterday with a nagging line and length, tried to choke the batsmen of runs. But there clearly wasn’t enough sting in his bowling.Not that it was all Bengal’s way. There were a few anxious moments in the first session when Vinay Kumar extracted some bounce and inward movement with the old ball to trouble Jhunjhunwala, who survived half a dozen occasions when he as completely baffled by rising off-cutters.The unspectacular batting exposed the limited Karnataka bowling. Much depended on the spin pair of Sunil Joshi and Raghu. But while Joshi, the experienced left-hander, was played out watchfully – he couldn’t get the ball to turn enough, despite sticking to line and length – the less experienced Raghu got a taste of Tewari’s penchant for hitting.Once the morning’s battle was won, Tiwary, a former India Under-19 captain, decided to shake off the shackles en route to his third huge hundred of the season. Perhaps the turning point of the day came midway through the second session when one over from Srinivasa Dhananjaya, the debutant paceman, saw Tiwary hitting four successive boundaries through cover and point.Jhunjhunwala was trapped leg-before soon after by Joshi – the 3rd wicket fell on 221 but Tiwary stepped up a gear, smashing Raghu for for 22 runs in one over that included two massive sixes over long-on. He made Karnataka pay for letting him off when on 64, ‘keeper Thilak Naidu fluffing a simple stumping opportunity off Joshi.After the match Deep Dasgupta, the Bengal captain, said he wasn’t really surprised at the result. “I was confident from the start that 236 [on the final day] was always gettable, going by the way we’ve played throughout the season. It’s inspiring the way Manoj and Abhishek batted, their partnership made all the difference, after Ranadeb and Sourav set us up so well in the first innings.”His coach Paras Mhambrey said he was satisfied with the performance but had ominous portents of the future: “There’s still huge scope for improvement. Personally, I will give this Bengal team 6 marks on a scale of 10. There’s much to work on still. Having said that, we are confident of putting up an impressive show in the final against Mumbai.”Venkatesh Prasad, the Karnataka coach, explained his team’s tactics. “We had no option but to go for the ploy of trying to restrict runs. They needed just 236 today, so we couldn’t afford to overattack and allow them to get away with easy runs. We expected a lot of help from the pitch, but it stayed consistently slow and low, and there was hardly any dangerous turn, not even for Joshi.”

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) reacted strongly to reports that umpire Darrell Hair is planning on suing the board and the ICC for alleged racial discrimination.The website revealed that Hair was planning legal action after he was banned from officiating Test matches following his role in the forfeited Oval Test between Pakistan and England in August last year.”I can confirm that I have instructed my lawyers to issue an application in the London Central Employment Tribunal alleging racial discrimination by the ICC and PCB,” said Hair at a press news conference in Nairobi.”It is inappropriate for me to make further comment given that this matter is yet to be determined by the tribunal,” added Hair, who had been umpiring the final of the ICC World Cricket League between Kenya and Scotland.An ICC spokesman said the organisation did not believe there was merit in the claim and it would “vigorously defend the matter”. It was the ICC’s only comment on the issue.Hair believes the PCB “unlawfully induced” the ICC to engage in discriminatory acts when it lobbied for his ban before a November meeting. Percy Sonn, ICC president, announced after the meeting: “It was clear from discussions that the ICC board had lost confidence in Mr Hair.”But the PCB maintains that the final decision was not taken by one member, but the cricket community as a whole and Pakistan cannot be singled out. “We haven’t received anything, any notice yet anyway,” Salim Altaf, PCB’s director cricket operations told Cricinfo.”But it was the ICC that said in November that we have lost confidence in Hair. It was an ICC decision based on their member body. I do not see how the question of legal action taken against Pakistan even arises out of this,” he added.Altaf said, however, that were the board to be issued any such notice, they would be prepared to battle it out in court. An ICC spokesman told Cricinfo: “We haven’t received anything from Mr Hair, but even if we had we would not be able to comment as it might be prejudicial to proceedings.”However, Nasim Ashraf, chairman of the board, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that his lawyer had informed him of Hair’s complaint and that he was “simply outraged” over the matter. “This is adding insult to injury. Race has nothing to do with this. Mr Hair was removed from the elite panel of umpires by the full ICC board, which has many countries, because of his poor judgement. This is the most preposterous thing I have heard.”Ashraf added: “It is crass for him to say a black West Indian was let off [whereas] he was a white man and therefore he was charged. Mr Hair was the senior umpire and he literally took over that Oval cricket match. I was present there.”There was only one man that evening that did not want cricket to be played. [It was] a black spot on the history of cricket thanks to Mr Hair.”The Test was forfeited after Hair and Billy Doctrove awarded England a five-run penalty because they believed the ball had been tampered with during England’s second innings on the fourth afternoon. Pakistan refused to come out to play after the tea break, in protest against the decision.Eventually, Inzamam-ul-Haq, Pakistan’s captain, was cleared of ball-tampering charges but given a four-match ban for bringing the game into disrepute, by Ranjan Madugalle. Hair offered his resignation in exchange for $500,000 soon after the Test, before he was eventually removed from the ICC’s elite panel of umpires.

Pakistan will fly out to the West Indies for the World Cup on Thursday without Shoaib Akhtar or Mohammad Asif, the two fast bowlers currently under a cloud of fitness and doping-related issues.”Both fast bowlers are in England for medical check-ups and they won’t be going with the team to the West Indies,” team spokesman PJ Mir told Cricinfo.Asif is suffering from an elbow injury while Shoaib has a problematic knee. But both have also yet to be dope-tested by the PCB, a test the board says they have to clear before they can join the squad in the Caribbean. Speculation has been rampant over the nature of their trips to the UK, the increasing belief among many now that they are there to try and resolve issues stemming from their positive dope tests last October. The PCB has denied this.”Asif is expected to return home Thursday and Akhtar will be back in Pakistan on Friday,” Mir added. Once they have returned, an assessment will be made of their medical reports and a decision finally made as to whether or not they are fit enough to go. Only then will they undergo the dope tests the remaining 18 players (including five reserves) underwent and cleared last week.”If Akhtar and Asif are declared medically fit then they have to go through PCB’s process of dope testing,” Mir said.All of which means that Pakistan, unbelievably, are still not sure of the final make-up of their squad and playing XI for the opening game of the tournament, against West Indies in Jamaica on March 13. If neither do go they will join Abdul Razzaq, ruled out of the World Cup due to a knee injury only yesterday, as high-profile absentees from the tournament for Pakistan.

If you saw her walking down the road you wouldn’t guess she was the fastest bowler in women’s cricket. If you saw her open the bowling for Australia, hurling the ball down the pitch at a most uncomfortable pace, you wouldn’t imagine she was 39. And if you watched her in the Quadrangular final between Australia and New Zealand you’d wonder why she had decided to retire from international cricket.Cathryn Fitzpatrick got 2 for 27 in her 10 overs, held two catches, and effected a run-out in Australia’s six-wicket win over New Zealand at Chennai. When she bowled Maria Fahey in the first over New Zealand should have felt the ground shaking beneath their feet. “Maria has been one of New Zealand’s key players in this tournament,” Fitzpatrick told Cricinfo. “She is an unsung hero, really. If she gets a start she is likely to a half-century at least, so it was nice to get her early.”But after the first wicket fell Australia seemed to lose the plot and Haidee Tiffen, the New Zealand captain, formed a 53-run partnership with Suzie Bates. If it wasn’t bad enough that Tiffen was beating the fielders and getting boundaries, Australia dropped Bates three times in her innings – twice off Fitzpatrick. But Fitzpatrick kept her resolve and, in the 14th over – as Tiffen ran for a single from the non-striker’s end – she scooped up the ball from mid-off and threw it to the keeper to dismiss Tiffen for 33. “No one drops catches deliberately,” she said. “You can’t keep thinking of the missed chances because then you won’t be able to get on with the game.”On her retirement Fitzpatrick said that one couldn’t go on and on forever. “You have to retire [at] some time. I will go back to Australia and finish off with some club cricket. Apart from that I haven’t given much thought to what I will do now.”Tiffen said that the run out had come at a bad time for New Zealand. “It was unnecessary, she said. “Bates and me had got a 50-run partnership and were just getting settled.” She conceded that Australia had entirely outplayed New Zealand. “It was disappointing, of course. We didn’t score enough or bowl well enough.”New Zealand will play Australia again in July in a five-match series at Darwin for the Rose Bowl trophy. Tiffen said that the side was looking forward to it as they were yet to play a game in Darwin. “We enjoy playing each other. There is a healthy rivalry between the two sides which is great for our cricket and women’s cricket in general.”But Lisa Sthalekar, the Player of the Tournament, as the highest run-scorer – 394 runs at 98.50 – said Australia had realised that the other countries weren’t very far from them in terms of quality. “Scores of 260 are becoming a regular feature,” she said. “One of the reasons for such scores could be integration of the boards which has helped us train and play in better facilities. Also, the girls have got stronger.”After a thrilling last match, a decider that Australia won off the last ball against India, the final was a disappointment to watch. But for Australia and Fitzpatrick it was a win as memorable as it was convincing.