The last round of the Quaid-e-Azam trophy matches, which were indefinitely put on hold following the assassination of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, will not be replayed. Instead, Habib Bank (HBL) and Sui Northern Gas Pipelines (SNGPL), who topped their respective groups going in to the final round, will now contest the final of the tournament, to be held in Karachi from January 7-11.The decision represents a u-turn of sorts from the Pakistan board, who earlier had said that the affected matches – ten in all, of which eight were in progress – would be replayed.But Zakir Khan, PCB’s director cricket operations, told reporters after a board meeting that according to domestic rules under which the tournament operates, matches could not be replayed. However, National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) and Sialkot played out a replay of an earlier game that wasn’t completed due to an unsuitable pitch, a move which drew protests from several teams in the tournament.The last round of matches would have made little difference in Group B, where SNGPL were already assured of their place in the final. And HBL were on the verge of securing their place in the final in any case; they were about to win against Karachi Whites, a result that would’ve sent them through ahead of NBP.Some repercussions might have been felt for the relegation spots in each group though it still isn’t clear how many teams will be eventually relegated. All matches will now be considered drawn though no points will be awarded to the teams.The meeting also decided to postpone the domestic Twenty20 championships indefinitely. The tournament, among the most popular domestically, was originally scheduled to be played from January 8-14. It was then rescheduled to February 9, but has now been put on hold altogether.However, the Pentangular trophy, played among the top five teams of the country, will go ahead from February 10. It will have a break between as the country goes to the polls from February 18, before resuming again from February 22 and running till March 15.The board will also hold a two-day High-performance camp from January 12, for players who impressed during the Quaid-e-Azam trophy. Twenty-four players are expected to attend the camp, to be held in Karachi.

New Zealand judge John Hansen has been appointed commissioner for Harbhajan Singh’s appeal against the finding that he was guilty of making racist comments during the second Test against Australia in Sydney.Justice Hansen is a High Court Judge and New Zealand Cricket’s appointee on the ICC’s Code of Conduct Commission.Harbhajan was given a three-Test ban after match referee Mike Procter upheld a complaint from Ricky Ponting that he insulted allrounder Andrew Symonds by calling him a “monkey”. The finding and sanction enraged the Indians, who were already upset by several umpiring decisions that went against them in the Test.The ICC said it had received official notification of the appeal from the Indian board on Monday and appointed Justice Hansen in line with ICC Code of Conduct processes. No time, date or venue for the appeal have yet been fixed, but an ICC release said the process “indicates that the appeal should be heard within seven days of the commissioner being appointed.” This time period, it added, may be extended depending on circumstances.In the meantime, Harbhajan may continue to play pending the verdict of the appeal being given. The BCCI announced late Tuesday that the tour in Australia would go ahead.

West Indies Under-19s’ four-match one-day series against their Bangladesh counterparts got off to a damp start when rain forced the first one-dayer in Savar to be abandoned.The second one-day match will also be held at the same venue on Saturday. The series provides an opportunity for both teams to gain practice ahead of the Under-19 World Cup which begins in Malaysia on Ferbuary 17.

The contracts tussle between Cricket Australia and the Indian Premier League (IPL) has been resolved, ending weeks of uncertainty over the availability of top Australian players for the Twenty20 tournament.”The issue has been resolved,” IPL Commissioner Lalit Modi told Cricinfo. “Two or three Australian players have already signed up with IPL. Hopefully, in the next 24 hours, this will go down the line. The process has already begun. Now it’s just a matter of getting through to the Australian players and their agents,” Modi said.The dispute revolved round protecting the rights of the Australian team’s global sponsors during the tournament, which will be telecast live in Australia by Channel Ten. However, asked whether the compromise that has been worked out involved compensation or protection to Australia’s sponsors, Modi said: “No. We have made it clear.”A resolution to the issue was on the cards, given that the last day for players to sign up for the IPL – as indicated by Modi – was Sunday. On Thursday, a senior Indian cricket board official had told Cricinfo that the contracts tussle was nearing a resolution. “It’s not a conflict situation any longer. We are looking at a resolution now,” the official had said.The IPL organisers are now looking for some clarity to emerge on Australia’s impending Test tour of Pakistan before the deadline. Cricket Australia’s security advisors have warned against going ahead with the tour and a cancellation will enable the biggest names, including Ricky Ponting, the captain, and fast bowler Brett Lee, to appear for the IPL.

Sri Lanka’s top-order batsmen, blamed for the team’s dismal showing in the recently-concluded Commonwealth Bank Series, showed outstanding form ahead of their tour of the Caribbean in the Premier League competition matches played over the weekend.Leading the run parade was top-ranked Test batsman Kumar Sangakkara who carved out the season’s highest score of 285 for Nondescripts against Moors at Maitland Place. Sangakkara tore into the Moors bowling which comprised two bowlers in the national squad for the series against West Indies – Chanaka Welegedara and Rangana Herath – hitting 31 fours and three sixes in his 292-ball innings. His knock improved on team-mate Chanaka Wijesinghe’s 250 made against Tamil Union which had stood as the season’s highest since January. Thanks to Sangakkara’s exploits Nondescripts recorded their second win of the season beating Moors by ten wickets. Despite their second defeat of the season, Moors held onto second place.Tillakaratne Dilshan was the other in-form Sri Lanka batsman, stroking a run-a-ball 121 featuring nine fours and six sixes for Bloomfield in their drawn encounter against Tamil Union.Pace-setters Sinhalese were the only other club from Tier A to record a win on a rain-affected weekend. They trounced Chilaw Marians by eight wickets at the R Premadasa Stadium, their fifth win of the season to extend their lead at the top to 28 points. Left-arm fast bowler Thilan Thushara was Sinhalese’s match-winner with a haul of ten wickets – a performance that should give him a lot of confidence for the Caribbean tour.Two Test discards performed outstandingly for Ragama. Indika de Saram stroked a stylish 188 off 152 balls (19 fours, 12 sixes) and legspinner Malinga Bandara captured nine wickets in the match as Ragama forced Badureliya to follow-on, but had to be satisfied with a draw.Defending champions Colombo Cricket Club lost further ground to leaders Sinhalese when they were held to a draw by Colts despite a long-overdue century from Sri Lanka one-day batsman Chamara Kapugedera. Colombo remained in third slot just ahead.Army took another step towards winning Tier B, which would assure them of a promotion to the elite Tier A next season, when they beat Police by six wickets, the match ending inside two days. It was their seventh win in as many matches. Army’s spinner Ajantha Mendis picked up eight wickets in the match to become the first bowler this season to take 50 wickets.Player of the Week: Kumar Sangakkara
Kumar Sangakkara is reaping the benefits of the hard work that he’s put in at practice over the years. There was no cricketer who worked harder at his game than Aravinda de Silva when he was representing Nondescripts and Sri Lanka. Sangakkara seems to have taken over that mantle from the great man and last weekend carried the brilliant form he showed in Australia into the domestic scene by compiling the highest score of the season – 285 for Nondescripts against Moors.Success for Sangakkara has not come overnight. He has worked hard for it. One of his greatest attributes is that he works hard at practice to perfect every shot in the book.Sangakkara admitted that under coaches Tom Moody and Trevor Penney, and John Dyson and Shane Duff before them he had got a good understanding of what his strengths were, and how he could get better. “Moody and Penney always pushed us out of our comfort zone, and that made me want to raise my game,” said Sangakkara.”Penney would talk to me about practising every single shot I could possibly play so that I could use them in a game and have options. Everything from a forward defensive to a lofted drive to a sweep to a reverse-sweep was practised in the years leading up to this patch.”Not satisfied with working on his batting alone, Sangakkara has also talked to people like Sandy Gordon, the sports psychologist, on how to build an innings and improve his game.The secret to Sangakkara’s batting is he tries to keep everything as simple as possible. “I try and watch the ball and I try and make sure I am balanced. Those are the two most important things for me. Everything else I have is usually covered through practice.”

Assembly elections in Karnataka have forced itinerary changes in the Indian Premier League (IPL) matches. The match scheduled for May 10 between Royal Challengers and Mumbai Indians has been pushed to May 28 and a direct switch has been made between Bangalore and Hyderabad for their matches against each other. Bangalore will now host Hyderabad on May 3 and visit them on May 25. The elections are on May 10, 16 and 22 and the counting of votes is on May 25.”Because of the elections and the counting, we will have massive repercussions on hospitality and security,” Charu Sharma, the CEO of the Bangalore franchise told Cricinfo. “The law stipulates that you can’t serve liquor in public functions one day before the elections and that would have affected the hospitality plans in the ground. Also, the availability of adequate security would have been affected as the focus might be more on the elections.”The Bangalore franchise consulted the IPL governing council, and the Hyderabad and Mumbai franchises, before making the changes in the schedule.

The Indian Premier League released on Tuesday its revised guidelines for media coverage of the inaugural tournament, formally withdrawing some of the original contentious clauses but maintaining its hardline stand on websites – they will not have access to photographs and their representatives will not be allowed into the venue during matches.The new guidelines were made public late in the evening, so there were no immediatereactions from the media industry, which had strongly condemned the earlier version.That prompted a meeting on Monday between IPL officials and senior journalists, atwhich some of the revisions were discusses. The revisions include the following:a.. A newspaper or a news agency can carry stand-alone still pictures of theTwenty20 matches in the print media and their websites without changing ormorphing, and for editorial reporting purposes only
b.. The IPRs of any publication shall not be restricted in terms of the clausewhich says that the accredited party should not use material which could challengeand damage the IPR of IPL
c.. The images should not be used in direct association with any marks, names orlogos of any third party and no part or whole of the image should be superimposedon
d.. No online use or publication or syndication of any such still photographicimage is allowed except for the website of the publication
e.. In place of the original condition that the IPL was entitled to use andreproduce any and all photographs of the accredited party, which should beuploaded on the IPL website by the latter within 24 hours, the IPL now says it mayrequest publications to provide for use and reproduction, free of charge,photographs from the publications
However, the revised guidelines reiterate the IPL’s stand vis-à-vis websites – notincluding those that are online versions of print publications – on tournamentcoverage. Website reporters, though granted accreditation, will be given access tothe venue the day before the match and for post match press conferences only – notduring matches.They also bar photographers from news agencies or other organisations from supplyingphotographs to these websites. No alternative provision has been specified forwebsites to source their pictures from, though on Monday the IPL said it was settingup a databank that could be accessed by these sites.The IPL also extended the deadline for media accreditations by two days till Thursday.

1994
South Africa’s return to England was an immediate success with a thumping 356-run win at Lord’s. When Brian McMillan – who threatened with bat and ball all series – trapped Angus Fraser lbw, the South African flag was joyously waved from the balcony, and the disparity in confidence between the two teams was further widened with Mike Atherton’s “dirt in the pocket” affair which muddied South Africa’s momentous return. England bounced back, sparked by Devon Malcolm’s sensational 9 for 57 in the third Test at The Oval, inspired by receiving a nasty clang to the helmet. “You guys are history,” he famously muttered under his grille to Fanie de Villiers’ bouncer and, for one Test, they were just that.
England 1 South Africa 1 Drawn 11995-96
A long, wet and losing tour for England – their fourth in a row – and South Africa’s fast bowlers, in between the rain, revelled in the seaming conditions. After a draw at Centurion, South Africa bounced into life at Johannesburg to gain a 132-run lead in the first innings. McMillan’s second-innings 100 set England an unlikely 479 to win, but they stuttered to 167 for 4 by the close of the fourth day with Atherton unbeaten on 82. And then the remarkable happened, as Atherton played the innings of his life on the fifth day to single-handedly haul England to the most memorable of draws. Gary Kirsten dropped him on 99. Atherton was chivvied along by Jack Russell who infuriated South Africa for 274 minutes, but for all England’s euphoria, this represented their high of a tour in which they were continually chasing South Africa’s coat tails. Allan Donald, the Man of the Series, routed England in their first innings at Cape Town, before a young and very quick Shaun Pollock did the same in their second dig.
South Africa 1 England 0 Drawn 41998
English cricket couldn’t get onto the back pages of the press in 1998 even if it tried, with the football World Cup dominating society. Considering their general haplessness at Lord’s, this was probably a relief to the England chiefs, but Robert Croft inspired them to a morale-boosting draw at Old Trafford. All seemed lost when Atherton and his successor, Alec Stewart, both fell on the fifth morning, but Croft – who’d hardly taken a wicket or nudged a run all series – discovered previously unknown levels of resistance: three hours and ten minutes, in fact, and England had turned the corner. Fraser took 10 wickets at Trent Bridge and Atherton somehow staved off an increasingly apoplectic Donald, in a duel that immediately went down in cricket folklore. The momentum was with England, and Darren Gough tore into South Africa with six wickets in the final Test at Headingley. It was England’s first big series win since Australia in 1986-87, and their joy was unconfined.
England 2 South Africa 1 Drawn 2

1999-2000
There were absolutely no positives England could clutch at when South Africa reduced them to 2 for 4 in the first Test at Johannesburg, but it was arguably the making of Michael Vaughan. His two-hour 33 lifted England out of the mire, briefly, though South Africa responded to their risible 122 with 403 for 9 declared. Donald ended England’s misery with 5 for 74 in their second innings. The tourists responded with a far improved performance at Port Elizabeth, led by two wonderfully determined fifties from their captain, Nasser Hussain, whose five-hour 70 staved off South Africa’s unrelenting seamers to seal a draw. His excellent form earned him a fighting century at Durban, though he was outclassed by a magnificent 275 from Gary Kirsten in a dull draw, before South Africa wrapped up the series in the fourth Test in Cape Town. England made it a contest for much of the game, before two horrific batting collapses reminded everyone of the uphill task their new-look side faced. Hansie Cronje and Hussain enlivened the final Test that was heading towards the dullest of draws, forfeiting innings to leave England chasing 249. They squeezed home with five balls and two wickets remaining, but five months later it transpired Cronje had received 53,000 rand (around £5,000), and England’s morale-boosting win was recorded in history as the first officially recognised “fixed” Test.
South Africa 2 England 1 Drawn 22003
For the third time since readmission, South Africa were left ruing a series they should have won. At the end of the first Test England were in turmoil as Hussain resigned and Vaughan was thrust into the captaincy after a successful start with the one-day side. Hussain’s final Test in charge found England firmly on the back foot as Graeme Smith and Herschelle Gibbs added 338 for the first wicket with Smith making a destructive 277. Rain, and an elegant century from Vaughan, helped save the game, but it was a destabilised England side that arrived at Lord’s and South Africa took full advantage. Smith rattled off his second double-century and Makhaya Ntini bagged 10 wickets in an innings-and-92-run victory. After such a hammering it was to Vaughan’s credit that England regrouped on a lively pitch at Trent Bridge with James Kirtley taking 6 for 39 on debut to level the series. The home side were quickly on top again at Headingley where Martin Bicknell was recalled after a gap of ten years, with South Africa reduced to 21 for 4 on a green seamer, but England’s batsmen went to pieces and Gary Kirsten made an outstanding 130. The subsequent 191-run defeat left Vaughan questioning the strength of the English game and his comments appeared valid when South Africa were 290 for 1 on the first day of the final Test at The Oval. Then one of the more remarkable transformations began to take shape with Marcus Trescothick hitting a memorable 219, but the real story came from Graham Thorpe, who made 124 on his recall. Still, though, England only appeared set for parity, enough to almost guarantee South Africa the series. Enter Andrew Flintoff and a breathtaking 95 and suddenly Vaughan was able to declare 120 before Bicknell and a fiery Steve Harmison whittled out South Africa for 229. The rest was easy for England, as Alec Stewart was given a victorious send-off in his final Test.
England 2 South Africa 2 Drawn 12004-05
England’s first series victory in South Africa for 40 years is often forgotten because of the Ashes triumph that followed, but this represented one of their most impressive overseas results. They carried the momentum from the previous summer (where they’d won all seven Tests) into the opening encounter in Port Elizabeth as Andrew Strauss made 126 and 94 not out in a seven-wicket win. England’s run of eight consecutive victories (and 11 in 12 Tests) was ended by bad light in Durban with South Africa eight down in their second innings. The visitors had fought back from being bowled for 139 in the first innings as Strauss and Trescothick added 273 second time around. Back-to-back Tests, though, were a tough ask especially when England had to bowl first in Cape Town. Jacques Kallis made another hundred and England were never in the match as they went down by 196 runs. However, the series turned with a dramatic match in Johannesburg as Matthew Hoggard enjoyed his finest hour. Another Strauss ton, followed by a flamboyant 180 from Trescothick, set South Africa 325 in 68 overs. Hoggard ripped into them, adding to his first-innings 5 for 144 with a career-best 7 for 61, England’s best match figures for 12 years, as they won with seven overs to spare. It was almost a one-man show as neither Harmison or Flintoff were fully fit and James Anderson had a nightmare game. As usual when England tour rain played a part at Centurion Park and took time out of the match. South Africa tested England’s nerve more than once, but an historic series success was secured.
South Africa 1 England 2 Drawn 22008
With one of the greatest innings produced in a run chase, Graeme Smith led his team to an historic series victory in England with a monumental uneaten 154 at Edgbaston. It was a captain’s innings of the highest order and brought the downfall of his opposite number, Michael Vaughan, who tearfully resigned the following day and handed the reigns to Kevin Pietersen (albeit briefly). The series had started on a much more promising note for England as Pietersen hit 152 in his first Test innings against his countrymen and Ian Bell made a career-best 199 as the home side piled up 593 for 8 at Lord’s. They managed to enforce the follow-on, but ran out of steam on another featherbed at NW8 as centuries from Smith, Neil McKenzie and Hashim Amla eased South Africa to a draw. At Headingley, Andrew Flintoff made his long-awaited comeback but it was the selection of Darren Pattinson, the Nottinghamshire swing bowler who had grown up in Australia, that was the talking point and from then on England were a dishevelled bunch. The batting collapsed twice to South Africa’s pace attack while the visitors rode on fine hundreds by Ashwell Prince and AB de Villiers. Edgbaston proved a thrilling contest with Flintoff producing a fearsome spell on the second evening to haul England back into the match before Paul Collingwood, with his career hanging by a thread, produced one of the gutsiest centuries imaginable alongside Pietersen’s flamboyant 94. In the end, South Africa needed a challenging 281 and at 93 for 4 England were on track to level the series, but Smith’s epic won the day. A few days later, under their new leader, England restored pride with a consolation victory at The Oval with new captain Pietersen marking the occasion with another hundred. Over the next two weeks he would also lead the team to a crushing 4-0 one-day series success, but his fun wouldn’t last much longer.
Tests England 1 South Africa 2 Drawn 1
ODIs England 4 South Africa 0 Abandoned 1Graeme Swann lead England to an innings victory in Durban as the 2009/10 Test series was shared•PA Photos

2009/10
The tour began with a largely unexpected ODI series win for England – their first in South Africa. The abandonment of the first and last games reduced the series to a best-of-three. Paul Collingwood’s century at Centurion won the second match; AB de Villier’s ton set up the leveller in the third before James Anderson ran through the hosts in Port Elizabeth: South Africa bowled out for 119 and England took what ended up as a series-clinching victory.The Test series was characterised by England’s two last-gasp escapes. Chasing 364 to win the first Test at Centurion, England were sailing to a draw at tea. But after the interval the run out of Kevin Pietersen began a collapse against the new ball. Five wickets went down for 13 runs with Freidel de Wet, on Test debut, taking 4 for 55 and the run out of Pietersen. England needed No. 11 Graham Onions to survive 12 balls to save the match.Onions’ rearguard action was called upon again in the New Year’s Test at Cape Town – the third of the series. South Africa built up a big lead in the third innings lead by Graeme Smith’s 183, leaving England four sessions to save the game. The Test looked lost when the tourists slipped to 160 for 5 after a century opening stand but Paul Collingwood and Ian Bell took England into the last hour with a stand of 112. But both fell and England again crumbled to leave the final pair – Graeme Swann and Onions – to survive 17 balls.Between the two backs-against-the-wall draws, England won the Boxing Day Test by an innings in Durban to lead the series. Hundreds for Alastair Cook and Bell gave England a first-innings lead of 231 before Swann’s five and Stuart Broad’s four wickets shot out the hosts for 133.But given their near-misses either side of the Durban defeat South Africa finally, and perhaps deservedly, levelled the series in the final Test in Johannesburg with a thumping innings victory. England couldn’t live with Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel who shared 14 wickets in the match. The Test included one of the early controversies with DRS – Graham Smith, who went on to score a century, was given not out caught behind when a clear edge could be heard on the replay; third umpire Daryll Harper didn’t have the microphone turned up so couldn’t hear the snick.
Tests South Africa 1 England 1 Drawn 2
ODIs South Africa 1 England 2 Abandoned 2

Afghanistan’s climb up the world stage continued as they sealed promotion from World Cricket League Division 4, moving into the final alongside Hong Kong, in Dar-es-Salaam.Going into the final day of the group stage, three sides were in contention for promotion but Italy, knowing they needed victory over Afghanistan to finish in the top two of the table, lost by 93 runs, thereby ending their dreams of playing in the 2011 World Cup.Hong Kong defeated Jersey by 100 runs to seal second place in the group stage, while Fiji’s dramatic four-run win over Tanzania means that Jersey and Fiji will be relegated to Division 5 on net run-rate, as all three teams were tied on two points.For Afghanistan and Hong Kong the aim is to finish in the top two of the six-team Division 3 tournament in Argentina in January, which would mean they join 10 other sides at the World Cup Qualifier, where four Associate or Affiliate Members will qualify for the 2011 tournament in Asia.At Leaders Club, Afghanistan posted an imposing target of 235 for Italy to win after another solid, mature and at times flamboyant batting performance. Rais Ahmadzai led the way with an excellently paced innings, scored at more than a run-a-ball, and hit two of the seven sixes scored in the innings, while Ahmad Shah (52) also played an important role.In reply, Italy lost Thushara Kurukulasuriya to his first ball, before the Northcote brothers added 61 for the second wicket. But Italy’s hopes suffered a blow when Andy Northcote (29) was run out by an excellent throw from man-of-the-moment Ahmadzai.Then, Hamid Hassan changed the game permanently, first deceiving Nick Northcote with a cleverly disguised slower ball, and then earning the vital wicket of Joe Scuderi with a superb throw to gain a run out. When Hemantha Jayasena was also run out in the next over without facing as panic spread through the Italian batting line-up. In the end Afghanistan, were able to enjoy a comfortable victory.Ahmadzai, who was named the Man of the Match after his crucial 68, was delighted with his side’s promotion and said he was determined to win the final against Hong Kong.”We are very happy. It’s true that there was a little bit of tension amongst the guys last night, but the coach said we should go and play positive cricket,” Ahmadzai said. “I was just concentrating on reading the wicket when I came into bat and then hitting the bad balls. The boys have done very well with the bowling, batting and fielding. We will try our best to win the final – we’ve already beaten Hong Kong in this tournament and we will try our best to do it again.”Immediately after the game Scuderi announced his retirement as a player, although he said he would continue as a coach. “You can’t keep playing for ever – I’m 40 in December and my time has come now,” he said. “Perhaps it is time for Italian cricket not to rely on me as much as it has done for the past 10 years.”In the other key promotion game, Butt Hussain missed out on his century in agonizing circumstances, run out backing up on 99, but his innings was instrumental in securing Hong Kong’s passage to Division 3 with victory over Jersey. “It was a pleasure to play such an important innings at a crucial stage for our team. It was due as I was only scoring 30 or 40 runs in my innings – I wasn’t scoring big scores,” Hussain said.After some excellent opening bowling from Ryan Driver and Anthony Kay, Hong Kong stuttered their way through the early overs. But a 119-run partnership between Hussain and Skhawat (47) transformed the game as Hong Kong’s experience and class began to show as it made a challenging 234.Jersey needed a good start, but a fine bowling display, particularly from Irfan Ahmed (3 for 10), ended any hopes as they were reduced to 134 all out.In the other match of the day, Fiji finally registered their first win with a dramatic four-run defeat against Tanzania, with Simon Jepson’s five wickets helping him win the Man-of-the-Match award.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsFile photo – Meg Lanning top-scored with 43 off 38 that featured five fours•Getty Images

Meg Lanning’s 38-ball 43 and a disciplined performance from the Australia Women bowlers steered them to a comfortable 25-run win over Ireland Women in the first of the three T20Is in Dublin. After scoring 140 for 5, Australia reduced Ireland to 58 for 6, before the hosts hauled their score past 100 but the match had fallen out of their grasp by then.Opting to field, Ireland struck early with the wicket of in-form Jess Jonassen for 5 but Elyse Villani and Lanning stitched a crucial stand of 56 in 7.1 overs to lay a strong platform. Villani fell for 32 in the tenth over even as Lanning continued, to marshall the score past 100 in her 50th T20 international. Ireland fought back by taking three quick wickets of Lanning, Ellyse Perry and debutant Grace Harris, for a duck, within eight balls for only one run – two of those taken by 17-year-old legspinner Elena Tice. But Alex Blackwell and Jess Cameron smashed 36 runs off the last 23 balls to stage a comeback and post a competitive total. Tice finished with 2 for 35.Ireland went off track in their chase early when Perry and Jonassen removed the openers within the first three overs. Cecelia Joyce stalled the fall of wickets with a patient Laura Delany, 9 off 17, to take the score past 50, but medium-pacer Harris broke the stand by having Joyce stumped for a brisk 26. Fifty-one for 3 soon became 58 for 6 as Rene Farrell took a return catch, Harris struck again and a run-out added to Ireland’s woes.They needed another 83 from 52 from there, but with only four wickets in hand. Gaby Lewis, Kim Garth and Lucy O’Reilly chipped in with double-digit scores but could not avoid the loss as Australia inflicted two more run-outs. Harris made up for her two-ball duck with a spell of 3-0-15-2 and only one of Australia’s six bowlers conceded at more than six runs per over.”Nervous is probably an understatement,” Harris said of her debut. “I suppose because the nerves hit me early with the bat, by the time I got out to the field [to bowl], I was a bit fresher and over it. With the ball I just knew what my job was and went straight into it. I didn’t get hit for a boundary until the third over so I was just trying to bowl to the field the skipper had set me and Meg was happy with how I was going.”