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Moises Henriques will captain the side, which also features Usman Khawaja, against England Lions at the MCG

ESPNcricinfo staff04-Feb-2020Will Pucovski and James Pattinson have been included in the Australia A squad to face England Lions in a day-night four-day game at the MCG from February 22 with Moises Henriques rewarded for his impressive domestic performances with the captaincy.Pucovski suffered another concussion playing for the Cricket Australia XI against the Lions on the Gold Coast on Sunday and was ruled out of the remainder of the three one-day games due to the quick turnaround between matches.Pattinson is the one player to have appeared in this summer’s Test side to be included in the A team. He played the last two Tests against New Zealand, at the MCG and SCG, following the hamstring injury suffered by Josh Hazlewood.Michael Neser, who was in every Test squad without making his debut, is included along with legspinner Mitchell Swepson who was called up for the Sydney Test and is expected to tour Bangladesh in June.Marcus Stoinis is handed some compensation for missing out on a recall for the limited-overs tour of South Africa with a chance to impress in the first-class arena while Usman Khawaja and Marcus Harris, who have not played since the Ashes, are given encouragement that they remains in the selectors’ thoughts.Josh Inglis, the Western Australia and Perth Scorchers wicketkeeper, will take the gloves with Alex Carey involved in the South Africa tour.Henriques, who has led the Sydney Sixers to the final of the BBL, will captain the side in a season where he has averaged 56.62 for New South Wales in the Sheffield Shield. Last month, Tim Paine name-checked him among potential all-round options for the Test side but said he would need to bowl more having only sent down 20 overs in the Shield.Australia A squad Moises Henriques (capt), Jackson Bird, Marcus Harris, Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Michael Neser, Kurtis Patterson, James Pattinson, Will Pucovski, Mark Steketee, Marcus Stoinis, Mitchell Swepson

The 23-year-old Cape Cobras batsman was rewarded for his consistency over the first-class season, and for his form during a tour of India in 2018

Liam Brickhill06-Dec-2018Zubayr Hamza, the 23-year-old Cape Cobras batsman, could make his Test debut against Pakistan on Boxing Day after being named in the 13-man South African squad for the upcoming three-match Test series. If he gains selection in the final XI he will become the 100th
player to represent South Africa in Test cricket since readmission.”Zubayr has been one of the standout cricketers in domestic cricket over the past year and carried that form into the South Africa A tour to India where he averaged over 50 in the four-day series against tough opposition and under tough conditions,” said CSA National Selection Panel convener Linda Zondi.Hamza also enjoyed an outstanding season in the 2017-18 four-day franchise competition, scoring 828 runs at an average of 69 with three centuries.”His selection is part of our vision for the future as we start to feed new players into the system,” Zondi explained. “It is inevitable that some of our senior players will start thinking of retiring in years to come and it is vital that we have a good succession plan in place.”ALSO READ: One step at a time for level-headed HamzaCricket South Africa’s squad for the series also features the return of seamer Duanne Olivier in place of Lungi Ngidi, who injured his knee during a T20I against Australia last month and has been ruled out until the end of February. Olivier was part of the squad for the home Tests against Australia in 2018 and has represented the South Africa in five Test matches.”As unfortunate as Lungi’s injury is we are blessed to have outstanding depth in our fast bowling resources,” Zondi said. “Duanne has impressed on his previous appearances for the Proteas and has had a good franchise season to date with 20 wickets in his five matches at an average of 22.80.While he has been ruled out of Tshwane Spartans’ ongoing Mzansi Super
League campaign with a back injury, batsman Theunis de Bruyn has also been included in the Test squad, and Tladi Bokako, the 25-year-old Cape Cobras and Durban Heat fast bowler, will join him as a non-playing member to gain experience.”Tladi Bokako will work with the squad as a learning experience during the series in a continuation of the initiative we started with Kagiso Rabada and continued with Matthew Breetzke earlier in the season. He has had a good debut season for the Cape Cobras with 21 wickets at 26.33 to date. “We will continue to identify young players with the potential to become future Proteas,” Zondi concluded.South Africa play three Tests, five ODIs and three T20Is against Pakistan starting on December 26.South Africa squad: Faf du Plessis (capt), Hashim Amla, Temba Bavuma , Theunis de Bruyn, Quinton de Kock (wk), Dean Elgar, Zubayr Hamza, Keshav Maharaj, Aiden Markram, Duanne Olivier, Vernon Philander, Kagiso Rabada, Dale Steyn

Both boards are in talks to play a Test as well, which Zimbabwe Cricket would prefer taking place after the World Cup qualifiers in March

ESPNcricinfo staff16-Nov-2017Zimbabwe and Afghanistan have agreed to play five ODIs and two T20Is against each other in Sharjah in February 2018. The tour begins with back to back 20-over games on February 5 and 6 before moving onto the 50-over leg scheduled to take place between February 9 to 19.

Tour schedule

Feb 5 – first T20I, Sharjah
Feb 6 – Second T20I, Sharjah
Feb 9 – First ODI, Sharjah
Feb 11 – Second ODI, Sharjah
Feb 13 – Third ODI, Sharjah
Feb 16 – Fourth ODI, Sharjah
Feb 19 – Fifth ODI, Sharjah

Afghanistan were in talks to play their maiden Test against Zimbabwe around the same time as well. The original plan was for both teams to compete against each other across all three formats in Sharjah before Zimbabwe would travel Bangladesh for an ODI tri-series in January-February. But with the World Cup qualifiers due in March, Zimbabwe Cricket suggested to the Afghanistan Cricket Board that it might be better for the players to concentrate on limited-overs cricket.”We are still discussing the proposed Test and looking at playing it after the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier,” a ZC official said. With Zimbabwe suffering a cash crunch, they may also prefer to play their Test matches away from home.Afghanistan have also announced a three match ODI series against Ireland to take place in Sharjah on December 5, 7 and 10.The ACB chairman Atif Mashal appeared happy that the team was getting good exposure at a time they will need it. “The two T20Is and five-match ODI series at Sharjah Cricket Stadium will give both sides [Afghanistan and Zimbabwe] a valuable opportunity to face each other for competitive cricket ahead of the ICC World Cup Qualifiers in March.”The tournament features 10 teams, including West Indies and Ireland, but only the top two will get to go to England for the 2019 World Cup.

The Western Province Cricket Association (WPCA) has raised concerns with CSA over holding the fifth ODI between South Africa and Australia on the same day as the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur

Firdose Moonda29-Sep-2016The Western Province Cricket Association (WPCA) has raised concerns with CSA over the hosting of the fifth ODI between South Africa and Australia on October 12, which falls on the same day as the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur. While Newlands will stage the fixture as planned, officials have asked CSA not to schedule matches on important religious days in future.”As Western Province, we are very respectful of every religious community in South Africa. We are aware that Yom Kippur is the most important day on the Hebrew calendar and clashes with the fifth One Day International. We have written to CSA and have raised our concerns about hosting the match on the most important day on the Jewish calendar,” Nabeal Dien, CEO of WPCA, said in a statement. “Unfortunately, as an affiliate, the international itinerary is out of our control, but we have expressed our feelings to the national body. CSA will communicate our concerns about the date to the ICC, requesting that a possible oversight like that should not be repeated.”The fixture is the last one in the five-match series, which starts on Friday in Centurion, and will go ahead as planned with the start time scheduled for 1:30pm local time. Ticket sales for the match have not been revealed but the series is expected to generate significant interest. Sunday’s second ODI at the Wanderers is close to being sold out.

Cheteshwar Pujara scored his first Test century since the last month of 2013 to deny Sri Lanka clear advantage in the rain-hit SSC Test

The Report by Sidharth Monga29-Aug-2015
Live scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsAngelo Mathews picked up the crucial wicket of Virat Kohli early in the day•AFP

Cheteshwar Pujara, previously out of the side to presumably accommodate a more forceful batsman and an extra bowler, scored his first Test century since the last month of 2013 to deny Sri Lanka clear advantage in the rain-hit SSC Test. He was helped along by Amit Mishra’s third Test fifty, an enterprising effort, to rescue India after Dhammika Prasad had reduced India to 180 for 7. It was thanks largely to Prasad that Sri Lanka didn’t lose the advantage of bowling first on a pitch with uneven grass covering, which offered seam movement and variable bounce. Pujara and Mishra added 104, the highest eighth-wicket stand for India against Sri Lanka, the highest at SSC, with Mishra’s 59 the highest by a No. 9 at SSC.Given almost a whole day’s play has been lost to rain, India might just have enough to feel they can’t lose the Test. They can thank Pujara for that. Batting above his preferred station, thanks only to injuries to the openers in the side, Pujara knew he had a brief window to make impact to earn a long-time return. On a pitch as challenging as this, the impact was not going to be immediate, but any runs he scored would be valuable. And he scored an unbeaten 135 of them out of India’s 292 for 8.Immediate impact was left for Prasad. That Sri Lanka ran the risk of wasting the conditions is evident from how they had to bowl 37 overs of spin out of 95.3 on a seaming pitch. Angelo Mathews, the third seamer, doesn’t bowl long spells because of back issues, and Prasad bowled only short spells. In the short spells, though, he struck instantly. He took out KL Rahul in the first over of the match, nearly had Virat Kohli in the first over on the second morning, took out Rohit Sharma with the last ball before lunch and Stuart Binny with the first after, and then R Ashwin with the first ball back.The first wicket of the day, though, went to Mathews, and that too after Kohli had survived a close call off Prasad and seen his burst off. He just couldn’t help pushing defensively at wide balls that he is better off leaving alone. In England, it proved to be Kohli’s downfall. In Australia and in the two previous Tests, the ball hardly seamed so Kohli kept getting away with it. This time he nicked off.This brought together two men whom a fully fit India XI might not have space for: Pujara and Rohit, the last two specialist batsmen. After surviving a streaky chip early in the innings and then successfully taking Rangana Herath’s spin on, Rohit once again fell just before an interval. In the previous Test, his dismissal brought an end to the day’s play; here he ended the first session. Prasad pitched close enough to make Rohit push at this, and the ball just held its line to take the edge. This was the fifth ball of the over, but lunch was taken immediately. Post the break, India’s suspect No. 6 Stuart Binny came out to bat. He got a near perfect ball, a ball you can’t mean to bowl. You can only hope that a ball shaping up as an outswinger pitches on the seam and then jags back the other way. That’s what happened with the first ball after lunch, and Binny was trapped lbw for a golden duck.Naman Ojha, the debutant, went on to have an important partnership with Pujara. But once the two had worn the bowlers out, with the ball 60 overs old, Ojha holed out when slogging against Tharindu Kuashal, who provides loose balls if you wait for them.Ask Pujara. He had to wait and wait and wait in the first session, leaving balls alone outside off, defended when they made him play, absorbing the pressure dot after dot after dot. He didn’t feel the itch to score runs even when he spent 23 balls on the score of 31. At times he even shaped up to play at balls, and then withdrew at the last moment realising they were outside off and not seaming in.Pujara was provided a release by the inconsistent Kaushal. He had come on for the first time 30 minutes before lunch, and offered a long half-volley. Pujara had only just got off 31, and he unfurled a cover drive for four and then cut a short ball past slip. Then came a good delivery, but Pujara was in a different mood now, and drove through point. He also drove Prasad to the boundary off the back foot, a shot Pujara had shelved earlier.Pujara reached his fifty minutes before lunch, and well known for accelerating after passing through an early period of defence, he went from 31 off 91 to 101 off 219.Pujara found a perfect partner in Mishra. After Ashwin had fallen to a loose push outside off, Mishra came in full of intent. He refused to get bogged down, didn’t play the most orthodox shots, but succeeded in frustrating the tired Sri Lankan bowlers. Pujara showed full faith in Mishra’s abilities, and the two stole the initiative from Sri Lanka who would have had hopes of batting for a major part of the final session.Although a few balls turned and bounced from the edge of a grassy patch on the pitch, which should encourage India should the match go into the fourth innings, the pitch had by and large settled down by now. The ball did seam, but Sri Lanka didn’t help themselves by bowling either too short or two full at Mishra. By the time Sri Lanka finally found a way past Mishra, who got too close to the ball when charging at Herath and was stumped off his pads, the clouds had come in and cost the Test another hour. Only 95.3 overs were bowled in the first two days.

Jos Buttler was delighted with his first half-century in an England shirt during a comfortable win in their tour match against a New Zealand

ESPNcricinfo staff05-Feb-2013Jos Buttler was delighted with his first half-century in an England shirt during a comfortable win in their tour match against a New Zealand. Buttler is set to take the gloves for England in the T20 series, and possibly in ODIs too, but it was with the bat that he made the most impression in Whangarei, smashing an unbeaten 57 from 24 balls.With Craig Kieswetter dropping out of both limited-overs squads, England have Buttler and Jonny Bairstow to choose from behind the stumps. Bairstow keeps regularly for Yorkshire, while Buttler is Kieswetter’s deputy at Somerset, but Buttler stepped up in place of his county team-mate during England’s tour of India. Bairstow missed the T20 and ODI series against India due to a family illness and is likely to return to the side solely as a batsman, for the time being.”It’s something I’ve been working really hard on,” Buttler said of his wicketkeeping. “It’s great to get this opportunity to do it. I think I’m going to take the gloves for the series … definitely for the Twenty20s, so that’s what I’m concentrating on at the minute. I’m really excited about it, and today’s a good start. It’s great to know that’s what’s happening. I can really put my mind on it, and work hard in training on it.”Buttler described reaching his half-century, with six fours and three sixes, as a “proud moment”, adding: “I better not get too far ahead of myself – tomorrow is another day. But I’m looking forward to the series.”Despite losing both openers with less than 50 on the board, England powered their way to an imposing 186 with some explosive hitting from the middle-order. The fast bowlers then chipped away at the New Zealand XI line-up, with three wickets apiece for Chris Woakes, Jade Dernbach and captain, Stuart Broad, who claimed a hat-trick.”It was great to get our first win, and obviously it was a really good all-round performance from everyone,” Buttler said. “I think as a blueprint for a batting plan, it was perfect. Wickets in hand at the end allow people to come in, as I did today, and score freely at the end.”It was testament to the guys ahead of me. They realised it was a bit of hard work and, instead of playing any rash shots, they got through that hard period and built a brilliant position for me to come in at the end. It’s the perfect way to set up a Twenty20 innings, for that explosive finish. With people like Jonny [Bairstow] and Samit [Patel] to come in, there’s a lot of power. So it gives us that licence to be really aggressive.”Broad’s hitch-free comeback from injury was another positive for England and Buttler was on hand to take the catch for his third wicket in as many balls. “It probably just sits behind his Test match hat-trick but I’m sure he really enjoyed it,” Buttler said, referring to Broad’s achievement against India at Trent Bridge in 2011. “It’s great to have him back and bowling really well. A hat-trick is a great moment in any form of cricket.”

Tim Bresnan has been ruled out of England’s first tour match which will mean a chance to impress for either Steven Finn or Chris Tremlett

George Dobell06-Jan-2012Success in sport is often attributed to discipline, dedication and determination but, so often, it’s blind luck that makes the crucial contribution.So it could prove for Steven Finn or Chris Tremlett. Both travelled to the UAE knowing they could well spend several weeks doing little more than providing net bowling for their colleagues. Yet, after Tim Bresnan was ruled out of the warm-up match against ICC Combined Associate and Affiliate XI, one of Finn or Tremlett has an excellent opportunity to stake a persuasive claim for a Test place.It would be premature to completely discount Bresnan as a possibility for the first Test. Andrew Strauss declared himself “hopeful” that the Yorkshireman would be “ready for the second warm-up [match].” But, with only one three-day game to come before three back-to-back Tests, it would something of a gamble to select Bresnan as one of England’s three pace bowlers.That could well leave Finn and Tremlett competing for one place. While Tremlett has a fine record since his return to the Test side, there is a sense that Finn is the rising power within English cricket. Not only did he provide a rare beacon of joy amid England’s limited-overs thrashing in India but, aged just 22, he’s already the quickest bowler in the squad. He’s raw, certainly, but has all the attributes to carve out a fine career at the top level.Tremlett, meanwhile, is struggling with a sore eye. While Strauss dismissed that of “no great concern”, it would be typical of Tremlett’s ill-fortune if such an unavoidable incident should thwart him. He’s previously been sidelined by a tendon cut in a freak washing-up accident and a lung punctured by a misplaced acupuncture needle. While the cynics have long criticised Tremlett’s attitude and commitment, the truth is he’s simply enjoyed little luck.There’s also an interesting sub-plot to this match. Among the opposition is the Ireland and Warwickshire fast bowler Boyd Rankin. After a domestic season in which Marcus Trescothick rated him the best fast bowler he faced, Rankin has forced his way into the England Lions squad and knows that a strong performance here will take him even closer to the Test squad. It’s a prospect that will be viewed with bitter-sweet phlegmatism by Irish cricket lovers. In the longer-term, George Dockrell, a 19-year-old left-arm spinner with Somerset, is another who could follow the same route.They are not the only ones with special incentive, however. The ICC side are itching to show the strength of Associate and Affiliate cricket and feel that a good game will maintain pressure on the ICC to provide greater opportunities for the non-Test nations. Rankin, for example, has argued this current experiment could be continued. “There is room for an Associate team playing Test cricket. A Combined ICC team is more than capable of playing against the best sides in the world,” he said. It’s an intriguing thought.England, meanwhile, will be happy to return to competitive cricket after an unusually long break. With just two three-day games in which to prepare for the Test series – a far cry from the preparation they enjoyed going into the Ashes – they know they need to hit the ground running. In this match, each first innings will be limited to a maximum 100 overs and there will not be an opportunity to utilise batsmen or bowlers from outside the selected XI as is sometimes the case with these warm-up matches.Much as England and Pakistan may wish to move on from the spot-fixing debacle, its shadow will linger over this tour. The trial of the former Essex seamer, Mervyn Westfield, who is accused of offences related to spot-fixing, begins on January 12 and will, inevitably, turn the focus of the cricketing world back towards the sport’s grubby underbelly. The trial of Allen Stanford, currently scheduled to begin on January 23, may also revive memories some would rather forget.Yet there will also be much to savour during this tour. It says much for the abundance of talent in Pakistan that, barely months after losing some of their brightest talents to the spot-fixing debacle, the team are seen as providing a serious threat to England’s winning streak. Pakistan have won their last three series and lost just one of their last 12 Tests. World cricket needs a strong Pakistan and their recent progress is heartening.Perhaps their record flatters to deceive, however. Two of those series wins have come against Bangladesh and Zimbabwe – currently the weakest Test sides – while the other came against a Sri Lankan side in a transitional state. England will provide a far stiffer challenge.It is sometimes blithely stated that all England’s success has come on green pitches favouring seam bowlers. It’s not so, however. While England are certainly a daunting proposition in archetypal English conditions, they’ve also had success on run-filled surfaces. Think of Adelaide, Sydney, Brisbane, Edgbaston and The Oval. With the likes of Alastair Cook, Jonathan Trott and Graeme Swann in the team, England can ‘do attrition’ as well as anyone. Their opponents underestimate them at their peril.Pakistan are progressing, but their fragile recovery could well be crushed under the heel of a very impressive England.England XI (from) Andrew Strauss (capt), Alastair Cook, Jonathan Trott, Kevin Pietersen, Ian Bell, Eoin Morgan, Matt Prior (wk), Stuart Broad, Graeme Swann, Steven Finn, James Anderson, Ravi Bopara, Steven Davies (wk), Chris Tremlett, Monty PanesarCombined AM XI (from) William Porterfield (capt), George Dockrell, Boyd Rankin, Paul Stirling (all Ireland), Saqib Ali (UAE), Kyle Coetzer, Majid Haq (both Scotland), Hamid Hassan, Mohammed Nabi, Mohammad Shahzad+ (all Afghanistan), Christi Viljoen, Craig Williams (both Namibia)

Andrew Strauss has said Eoin Morgan is a doubt for the World Cup as he has sustained a “substantial” fracture to the middle finger of his left hand

Andrew McGlashan at the WACA06-Feb-2011Andrew Strauss has much to ponder as England fly home after more than three months in Australia and top of that list is now the “substantial” fracture to Eoin Morgan’s finger, which threatens to rule him out of the World Cup. It means England head home with injury issues hanging over six of their 15-man squad with just five days remaining before they leave for the subcontinent.Morgan was ruled out of the final match of the series in Australia after X-rays revealed a fracture to the middle finger on his left hand, which he sustained in Adelaide but was only picked up more than a week later. He flew out of Perth as the last game unfolded and will see a specialist immediately on his return to the UK.It is expected that the results will be known by the time Andy Flower, the England team director, sits down with the selectors on Tuesday afternoon to discuss the injury situation and Strauss is bracing himself for the worst.”He’s got a broken finger, he’s going to see a specialist tomorrow to decide what the best course of action is to remedy that situation,” he said. “There’s obviously a chance that he’s not going to feature. They went for an X-ray and I think everyone was reasonably surprised to see it was quite a substantial fracture.”

England’s walking wounded

Eoin Morgan: Fractured middle finger on left hand in fourth ODI against Australia
Tim Bresnan: Picked up calf injury during second ODI
Graeme Swann: Back strain kept him out of ODI series
Paul Collingwood: Back spasms sent him home after the sixth ODI
Ajmal Shahzad: Limped off pitch with hamstring injury during fifth ODI
Stuart Broad: Tore his abdominal muscle during second Ashes Test and didn’t feature in ODI series

Morgan’s absence would leave a massive hole in England’s middle order even though he had a poor series in Australia where he made 106 runs at 17.66. “He is [important], particularly in those conditions as well, being able to clear the ropes in the manner that he does,” Strauss said. “It’s a big loss for us potentially. Hopefully there will be an opportunity for him to play. If he isn’t available someone is going to have to fill those shoes.”Questions will be asked as to why it took so long to diagnose the problem, but Morgan insisted his finger was only bruised and carried on to play matches at Brisbane and Sydney. Eventually, the medical staff told him he had to have it examined and the full extent of the damage become clear. “He just thought it was bruised. He got on with it, but just when he was thinking it would start feeling better it got worse and it was restricting his play,” Strauss said.Despite the troubled end to the long tour and the 6-1 scoreline in the ODI series, Strauss knows his team achieved their major aim of the trip by retaining the Ashes in three crushing innings victories. “They are two different forms of the game and that Ashes victory was incredibly special and one that we’ll savour forever. You talk to people out there and they say ‘great tour’ even though we just lost 6-1.”We’re disappointed with the one-day results but we’ll get onto that plane, certainly those who were involved in the Ashes, and be very happy with what we’ve achieved.”However, to make this winter go down as one of England’s best, it is vital they don’t crash out of the World Cup in embarrassing circumstances as has been the case in the last four tournaments. While Strauss can still quite rightly reflect on Ashes glory the next seven weeks are another massive challenge. With our without injury worries.

Tasmania secured their second FR Cup title in three seasons and consigned Victoria to a fourth consecutive one-day final loss after Tim Paine’s century left the hosts to chase an unreachable 305

Brydon Coverdale at the MCG28-Feb-2010
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsTim Paine’s 100 set up Tasmania’s title•Getty Images

Tasmania secured their second FR Cup title in three seasons and consigned Victoria to a fourth consecutive one-day final loss after Tim Paine’s century left the hosts to chase an unreachable 305. Paine and Michael Dighton took advantage of a lacklustre start from Victoria in the field, before Gerard Denton struck three early blows with the ball to set up the 110-run triumph.Victoria severely felt the absence of their two best limited-overs bowlers, Clint McKay and Dirk Nannes, and two of their star batsmen, Cameron White and David Hussey, all of whom were in New Zealand with the Australian squad. Tasmania were also missing Travis Birt for the same reason but they covered for his loss with confident innings from Paine, Dighton and Ed Cowan.For the Bushrangers to challenge Tasmania’s 6 for 304, they needed a big innings from Brad Hodge and when he drove Denton to cover and was caught for 14, most of the interest in the chase disappeared. Denton had already taken Tasmania’s batting momentum and applied it to their bowling by removing Chris Rogers and Aiden Blizzard within the first eight overs.Rogers played on for 14 and was fuming with himself, after they had already lost Blizzard to a stunning, leaping catch from Rhett Lockyear at backward point. The wonderful take highlighted a stark difference in the fielding standard between the two teams after Blizzard himself had put down Dighton on 42.Blizzard couldn’t hang on to a low but regulation chance at point and it was the second life for Dighton, who had been spilled on 9 by the wicketkeeper Matthew Wade diving to his right. The sloppy work from Victoria contributed to Tasmania’s strong start and Dighton and Paine flew out of the blocks following their captain’s decision to bat.Dighton was the dominant partner in the 132-run opening stand and he was in a belligerent batting mood, forcing boundaries all around the ground including one straight down the pitch that nearly collected the bowler John Hastings in the head. He lifted the ball off his pads with ease and capitalised on a lifeless new-ball spell from Darren Pattinson, who in all bowled four overs for 36.Dighton missed the chance for a century when he was bowled by Hastings for 80 from 91 balls and while the scoring rate dropped a little after his departure, Paine continued to play a vital anchoring role. He was controlled and struck nine fours in his chanceless 100, which came up off 117 deliveries with an overthrow after he initially turned back trying for a single to point.Paine fell from his next delivery when Wade snared an edge behind up to the stumps off Andrew McDonald but by then the damage was done. Ed Cowan had already contributed a very useful 61 from 55 balls, which included a six down the ground off Bryce McGain, before he was caught at mid-off to become one of three wickets for McDonald.The Victorian fielding sharpened up in the dying stages, as Wade completed a wonderful leg-side stumping standing up to McDonald to get rid of Jason Krejza, and Blizzard tried to make up for his drop with a direct-hit from the outfield to find Brendan Drew short. But 16 came from Tasmania’s last over, and 103 from their final ten, to set Victoria a 300-plus chase.The early losses derailed Victoria’s pursuit and although the stand-in captain McDonald tried to fight back and made 64 alongside Wade’s 40, Denton came back to remove McDonald and any slim hopes of a home-town miracle. Denton finished with 5 for 45 as Victoria were bowled out in the 43rd over but it was Paine who was named Man of the Match for setting up the result.The 50-over format remains Victoria’s curse in a successful era during which they have claimed four Twenty20 titles and last summer’s Sheffield Shield. They have now lost three FR Cup finals at home – to Tasmania this summer and to Queensland in 2006-07 and 2008-09 – and one away to the Tigers in 2007-08 over the past four seasons.