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A pile of prizes went to Ashley Noffke on Saturday night as he gained more rewards for his outstanding domestic season with Queensland. Noffke, the third Australian to collect the 50-wicket, 500-run first-class double, claimed his second consecutive Ian Healy Trophy for the state’s Player of the Year.There was not much competition for Noffke after the Bulls finished last in the Pura Cup and missed the finals of the one-day and Twenty20 competitions. Noffke led the first-class batting with 741 runs at 46.31 – Ryan Broad was second on 566 – and the bowling with 51 wickets, 36 ahead of the second-placed Michael Kasprowicz. It was the first time a player had topped both Queensland lists since Ron Oxenham in 1936.The returns pushed Noffke to international Twenty20 and one-day debuts and he should be a certainty to tour the West Indies with Australia in May. “I’m really happy I was able to put it all together this season,” Noffke said.”It’s disappointing we didn’t get the results we were after, but cricket is a game of roundabouts. It can be a long year when things don’t go according to plan, but everyone stuck together really well and that’s the true test of a side.”Noffke also picked up the state’s award for the Pura Cup and the players’ player prize while James Hopes won the FR Cup gong and Shane Watson was recognised for his belligerent Twenty20 batting. The Australian representative Jodie Purves collected the women’s trophy for scoring 214 runs at 30.57 and claiming 16 dismissals in the national league.

Yere Goud has obtained clearance from the Indian board (BCCI) to represent Karnataka and will lead the side in their second round Ranji Trophy match against Haryana at Mysore starting on December 1. Ratnakar Shetty, the BCCI’s chief administrative officer, confirmed that Goud’s clearance had been approved by Sharad Pawar, the board president.Goud was forced to sit out of the first match against Baroda, on technical grounds, as he had failed to obtain the required No Objection Certificate (NOC) from Railways, his previous team, on time. Barrington Rowland, the opening batsman, led the side in Goud’s absence, as Karnataka got off to a disastrous start, losing by seven wickets after they were shot out for 85 in their first innings.Goud, who last represented his home state Karnataka in 1994-95, had been appointed captain as early as August and trained with the probables in their pre-season preparation, for nearly four months. Unfortunately for Goud, Railways failed to intimate the board before the cut-off date for the NOC, which was September 30.

The Pyjama Game came to the County Ground, Jesmond, Newcastle, in September, when the NatWest Trophy winners, Somerset, met a Northumberland Invitation XI in the North-East’s first floodlit fixture.The match, played under John Player League rules, was part of Somerset skipper Brian Rose’s benefit year. It was sponsored by Dry Blackthorn Cider, and Somerset included Test stars Botham, Richards, Garner and Marks.A crowd of over 2500 packed tightly into the county ground, and there were black sightscreens, a white ball, coloured pads, and the umpires sported a nice line in brown coats. The floodlights, four sets of panelled lights, were suspended by 85ft cranes, and there was an air of anticipation as everyone waited for the ‘Northern Lights’ to flicker into action.For the visitors, Roebuck and Denning raced to an opening stand of 70 before ‘Dasher’ departed. But Roebuck strode impressively on. Even the swift exits of Richards for 12 and Botham 33, to the obvious disappointment of the crowd, were soon forgotten as Roebuck reached a splendid 106 (three sixes, 13 fours), Somerset eventually totalling 251 for 8.During the break a specially-imported calypso steel band ‘beat out that rhythm on the drum’.Northumberland were 102 for 1 from 24 overs (Halliday 65 not out) when the rain, no respecter of this historic occasion, poured down and the match was abandoned. In the warmth of the pavilion, reviving glasses of cider in their hands, the local players reflected on their first experience of floodlit cricket:”Absolutely tremendous. The ball comes onto you a lot quicker; it doesn’t swing very much.” All agreed how exciting and enjoyable it had been. Brian Rose declared himself to be “very impressed with the set-up”. Somerset won the match on a faster scoring rate. But the result wasn’t really important.

Prosper Utseya has been fined 40 percent of his match fee for a slow over rate in the fourth one-day international against Bangladesh at Harare.Other members of Zimbabwe’s team were fined 20 percent of their fee from Saturday’s match following the hearing conducted by match referee Cyril Mitchley.”This was Prosper’s first offence of this nature but he must be careful not to let it happen again. He has received a stern warning,” said Mitchley. “Slow over rates are not fair to the opposition or the spectators and captains have a responsibility to ensure their players adhere to the regulations in that regard.”Bangladesh claimed the series 3-1 after a one-wicket win in the final match on Saturday.

ScorecardA seven-wicket haul by seamer Ranadeb Bose gave Bengal the opportunity for an outright victory, after Hyderabad capitulated for a paltry 76 at Uppal. Bose finished with figures of 7 for 25, giving very little away in his 20 overs. Earlier, the momentum was clearly with Hyderabad after seamer Alfred Absolem’s five-wicket haul gave them a valuable 109-run lead. Chasing 186, Bengal lost two early wickets, both to medium pacer Praneet Arjun, before Abhishek Jhunjhunwala and Manoj Tiwary took the score to 72 at stumps.
ScorecardA sound allround effort put Delhi in command against Andhra at Vijayawada, after the home side were bundled out for 209 in their first innings. Andhra’s Prasad Reddy resisted with an obdurate 71 and shared a 57-run stand with Syed Sahabuddin but once their sixth-wicket stand was broken, the Andhra innings folded up. Only three batsmen managed to cross double figures, as Ishant Sharma picked up four wickets and Amit Bhandari mopped up the tail. Delhi then extended their lead to 306 with seven second-innings wickets in hand, boosted by half-centuries by Shikhar Dhawan and Mithun Manhas, who raced to an aggressive 86.
ScorecardTamil Nadu’s hopes of staving off relegation hung on a slim thread as they fought to avoid an innings defeat against Karnataka at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore. When they began the day at 119 for 4 in their first innings there was still hope for Tamil Nadu, with S Sharath and M Vijay at the crease. But Vijay was lbw to Sunil Joshi for 48 early on the third day, and from there it was all downhill. Sharath made 18 and R Ashwin 46, but Tamil Nadu could only muster 207. Asked to follow-on they began badly, losing openers S Aniruddha, lbw to Vinay Kumar, and Vijay, with only 22 on the board. A mini recovery took Tamil Nadu past 100 but KP Appanna trapped R Prasanna (59) lbw and Tamil Nadu were 112 for 3. They managed to go through to close without further loss, but at 130 for 3, trailing by 89 runs, Tamil Nadu are still in deep trouble.
ScorecardMaharashtra, slowly but steadily in pursuit of Gujarat’s first-innings 369, reached 296 for 4 from 123 overs at the end of the third day of their match at the Golf Club Ground in Nasik. Beginning the day on 72 for 1, Maharashtra were powered by Harshad Khadiwale, the 18-year-old opening batsman, who spent nearly ten hours at the crease for 73. He was helped along by Hrishikesh Kanitkar, the captain, who chipped in with 45. In fact, other than Dhiraj Jadhav, who was dismissed on the second day, all the batsmen contributed. Yogesh Takawale made 57 before being caught behind off Ashraf Makda, while Sridharan Sriram was unbeaten on 53. Maharashtra still trail by 73 runs, but the vital first-innings lead and two points look well within reach.
ScorecardRajasthan were staring at an outright loss against Mumbai when they ended the third day still needing 69 runs to avoid an innings defeat with only three wickets in hand. After being bowled out for only 155 and conceding a lead of 328, Rajasthan were up against it, but they put in a far better performance in their second dig. Despite losing Vikram Solanki for a duck they managed to stabilise the innings, thanks mainly to half-centuries from Gagan Khoda and Rahul Kanwat. But Mumbai’s spinners got into the act as Nilesh Kulkarni with three wickets, and Ramesh Powar, with two, put the skids on the innings. Only Ajay Jadeja, unbeaten on 49, stands between Mumbai and victory, with just three wickets needed when the final day begins.
ScorecardSaurasthra recovered from a precarious position through a strong bowling performance and restricted Haryana to 82 for 7 in their second innings after conceding a first-innings lead of 40 runs. From their overnight 134 for 5 Saurashtra spurred on to 268, thanks to Ravinder Jadeja (48) and Rakesh Dhruv (34), who added vital runs in the lower middle-order. It was again this pair that combined to do the damage when Haryana came out to bat in their second essay. Jadeja picked up 3 for 16 and Dhruv 3 for 30 as Haryana were reduced to 82 for 7. There was barely a partnership of note, and only Nitin Saini, with 27 at the top of the order, made it past 20. The overall lead for Haryana was 122, and the game is interestingly poised going into the final day, with both teams still in with a chance of forcing a win.

South Africa 156 for 4 (Bosman 38) beat Zimbabwe (Chibhabha 38, Hall 3-23) by six wickets
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out

Despite a top-order wobble, South Africa clinched a six-wicket win and an unassailable series lead over Zimbabwe in the rescheduled second one-day international at East London. It shouldn’t have been so tricky given that the target was 153, but in the end South Africa were able to get home in good time to round off a comprehensive bowling effort earlier in the day. In the midst of all this, Jacques Kallis became the first South African in the history of the game to have 8,000 runs and 200 wickets in both forms of the game.After the in-form Boeta Dippenaar fell to an ugly pull shot that Vusi Sibanda did well to judge at point under the floodlights, two rookie batsmen looked as if they wanted to finish the game on their own. Loots Bosman showed no signs of nerves after he ducked into his first ball and took a blow to the helmet. Keen to make amends for his rash dismissal in the first one-dayer at Bloemfontein, he made sure to get right behind the line when defending the tight deliveries. He was afforded a slice of luck when Piet Rinke misjudged a top-edged cut shot at third man, but all it did was change the complexion of his innings.A deft dab to the same region, a square drive on the up through cover point, and a huge hit over wide long-off for maximum followed. Perhaps loving the thrill of the lights and the cheer from the crowd, Bosman took it one step further with a golf-like tee back down the ground to signal the 50-run stand off just 31 balls with Alviro Peterson, the Lions batsman on international debut. Peterson was into his stride quickly as he worked his third delivery through midwicket for three before executing a perfect pull for four to get the stands swaying.However, both batsmen were given a reality check by Rinke, the most unthreatening of medium pacers there must be in the game. Tossed the ball in the tenth over, Rinke struck in his second when he got Peterson to chop an attempted nudge to third man onto the stumps and he then bowled Bosman through the drive. Rinke nearly had a third when Kallis drove him over cover’s outstretched fingertips.Prosper Utseya brought Anthony Ireland back into the attack and he responded with his second wicket when he bowled Kallis with one that kept low and nipped in. This big wicket, and Rinke’s double strike, apparently had not been enough to shake South Africa up. Justin Kemp tried to make a further mess of the situation, but Utseya dropped him at short midwicket – pull, in and out – to deny Ireland a third wicket as well. It was that kind of evening. Eventually, Kemp (28 not-out) and another newbie, Jean-Paul Duminy (31 not-out), completed the formalities.Utseya’s decision to bat first didn’t go down smoothly as Zimbabwe’s batting came a cropper against a disciplined South African attack. The match was postponed by 24 hours due to rain on Sunday and started an hour late today because of a wet outfield, but South Africa’s bowlers wasted little time in bundling a fragile Zimbabwe out for just 152 in 49.4 overs.Whereas at Bloemfontein South Africa’s bowling was under par at the start, today Makhaya Ntini and Shaun Pollock removed the openers early and Kallis’s decision to bring himself on first change was backed up with quick wickets. Ntini needed just four deliveries to remove Sibanda, Zimbabwe’s top-scorer with 51 in the previous match, and was his usual hustling self as he regularly hit the right spots around the off stump. Pollock was his usual economic self and fired in an excellent delivery that nipped back and sent Tafadzwa Mufambisi’s leg stump cartwheeling.Kallis struck gold with his first delivery when he drew a leading edge from Hamilton Masakadza and snapped a neat catch moving to his right. He picked up a quick second wicket when Brendan Taylor mistimed a flick and was snapped up by a diving midwicket. And when Andrew Hall clipped Stuart Matsikenyeri’s off stump with a one that nipped in low, Zimbabwe were 73 for 5 with plenty to fret about.Chamu Chibhabha and Elton Chigumbura put on 47 for the sixth wicket in the only substantial partnership of the innings, but their untimely dismissals near the death allowed South Africa a window to smash through. Ntini returned to nab Chibhabha, Peterson – who maintained a tight line with his brand of left-arm spin – added Rinke’s wicket, and Hall ran through the remaining batsmen. Utseya helped his side over the 150 mark with a six and a four, but this was a total that would challenge few sides in international cricket.Zimbabwe just didn’t show enough gumption for a fight in the face of South Africa’s improved bowling performance. The top order failed to read the length of Ntini and Pollock, there were attempts to go aerial when defense was in order, and the errors against spin were glaring. Given that this was their last chance for competition ahead of next month’s Champions Trophy, Zimbabwe have much to address in terms of their batting.How they were out
Zimbabwe
Vusi Sibanda c Boucher b Ntini 0 (1 for 1)
Tafadzwa Mufambisi b Pollock 21 (27 for 2)
Hamilton Masakadza c & b Kallis 5 (33 for 3)
Brendan Taylor c Hall b Kallis 5 (50 for 4)
Stuart Matsikenyeri b Hall 14 (73 for 5)
Elton Chigumbura st Boucher b Peterson 30 (120 for 6)
Chamu Chibhabha c Duminy b Ntini 38 (122 for 7)
Piet Rinke lbw b Peterson 3 (128 for 8)
Anthony Ireland b Hall 1 (132 for 9)
Ed Rainsford b Hall (152 for 10)
South Africa
Boeta Dippenaar c Sibanda b Ireland 9 (14 for 1)Alviro Peterson b Rinke 20 (67 for 2)
Loots Bosman b Rinke 38 (72 for 3)
Jacques Kallis b Ireland 26 (109 for 4)

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

After two first-innings totals which had gone in excess of 200, the bowlers at last had their say at the Feroz Shah Kotla, as Delhi Daredevils thrashed Rajasthan Royals by nine wickets in a disappointingly one-sided game. Rajasthan didn’t have a chance after their batsmen had floundered badly, putting up a dismal 129 on the board. Gautam Gambhir’s unbeaten 58, and his 112-run partnership with Shikhar Dhawan – who helped himself to a half-century as well – finished off the run-chase in a mere 15.1 overs.The only bit that went right for Rajasthan was the toss, which Shane Warne, their captain, won and had little hesitation in choosing to bat. When Taruwar Kohli survived five deliveries from Glenn McGrath in the corridor and spanked the sixth one over cover point for six, it seemed the run-fest had started all over again. As it turned out, Rajasthan had little to celebrate thereafter. In his next over, Kohli chanced his arm again against McGrath, but only found Mithun Manhas at midwicket. McGrath went on to bowl the first maiden over of the tournament, and from there Delhi never let the initiative slip.Rajasthan did their cause no favours with two run-outs, which severely hampered their momentum. Shane Watson hinted at carrying on the good work that his fellow Australians had managed earlier in the day in Mohali, pulling McGrath and Brett Geeves for fours, but his resistance was ended swiftly following a misunderstanding with Mohammad Kaif. Yusuf Pathan had already fallen to the run-out route earlier, and when Kaif, who struggled to find the gaps and the runs, scooped one to Geeves at short fine leg, Rajasthan had slumped to 57 for 5.In a team which had the immense figures of McGrath and Daniel Vettori in their bowling line-up, the hero of the day was Farveez Maharoof, who bowled with excellent control, changing his pace and offering the batsmen no width to score off. His dismissal of Darren Lehmann, who was trapped on the shuffle, was another blow to Rajasthan’s hopes of getting a challenging total on the board.Ravindra Jadeja, the left-hand batsman, offered some resistance, hitting Vettori for a six and a four off his first two balls, but Vettori had the last laugh, deceiving him with a quicker one which rattled the stumps. Warne and Dinesh Salunkhe ensured that Delhi needed to score at more than a run a ball, but on a flat pitch against a batting line-up which included Virender Sehwag and Gambhir at the top of the order, there was little chance of defending that score.Their opening partnership lasted just ten balls, but it was enough to set the tone for the run-chase. Gambhir’s slash and straight drive in the first over off Munaf Patel both found the boundary, while Sehwag had the home crowd on their feet and cheering wildly after just three balls, all of which sped to different parts of the ground: a lofted straight drive over Watson’s head, a spanking pull through midwicket, and then the best shot of them all – a delectable late cut between the wicketkeeper and slip. That, unfortunately, was as good as it got, as Watson hit back, ripping a quick one which rattled the stumps off the pads.Nothing could stop Gambhir, though, as he continued the Twenty20 form he had shown in the World Cup in South Africa. An audacious extra-cover drive for six and a late cut off Munaf quickly brought the asking rate below a run a ball, after which it was a cool canter.Rajasthan’s one hope was Warne, but Gambhir and Dhawan didn’t allow him to settle in either, sweeping and pulling him for fours even as Warne’s reactions suggested he was only a whisker away from a wicket. He pulled himself off the attack after just two overs, and the rest was a mere formality.

A senior Pakistani minister has been denied a visa to visit India for the second one-day international between the hosts and Pakistan. The news comes after 46 Pakistani journalists, awarded media accreditation for the five-ODI and three-Test tour, were unable to cover the first match as they were yet to be issued visas by the Indian High Commission (IHC).Railways minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed intended to watch Thursday’s second match at Mohali, but was informed by the IHC in Islamabad that he could not be issued the required visa. “I was planning to travel on Wednesday but they left me disappointed,” he told . “They didn’t give any reason for not granting me the visa.”This time I had got invitation from the Board of Control for Cricket in India and even then they did not give me the visa at the eleventh hour.”According to the minister, official permission was sought from the Pakistan government for the required travel and as a result, a protest has been lodged and the Pakistan prime minister informed. No official from the IHC was available for comment.While visas were famously relaxed and citizen-to-citizen contact was actively encouraged during the last three series between the two countries, a similar trait has yet to be seen this time around. This surprised the minister, who firmly believed that “there should be people-to-people contact between the two countries.”

Finally, some good news for Canada’s preparations for the Intercontinental Cup final. After Thursday’s tale of woe – missed planes, lost kits and rain – the sun shone on Friday and suddenly everything looked brighter. What a difference a day makes.Despite the miserable forecast, they managed to fit in a 60-over match against a select England XI at Loughborough Town. It wasn’t quite the two-day match that their coach Andy Pick had envisaged when organising the game, but the match was fudged so that Canada’s batsmen could at least get two innings, with the tailenders sacrificing their time at the crease. John Davison and Ashish Bagai got some runs under their belts, while Bagai will have profited in part from getting some captaincy practice.And, with Canada bossing proceedings, having the ECB at 40 for 5 in their first dart, before a recovery, and then 60 for 6 next time out, Pick was delighted to report “a really good day”. Finally.More than anything, playing outdoors will have done them no end of good, and they will return to outdoor nets at the ECB Academy in Loughborough for Saturday, as organised by Pick. They will then be followed on Sunday by a rest day, allowing the players to recover from their jet lag, before heading to Grace Road for some outdoor practice once more, ahead of Tuesday’s final there against Ireland.The whole team are together at last – and Davison and Geoff Barnett have even been reunited with their luggage.

Shane Bond, New Zealand’s fast bowler, has announced his intention to target Sanath Jayasuriya, the hard-hitting Sri Lankan opening batsman, in their semi-final clash in Jamaica.”If we can get Sanath out early we can probably limit them to 200 runs so it’s my job, especially in this game, to get him out and we’ve always identified him as a key wicket,” Bond told the .The pitch at Sabina Park is expected to offer a fair bit of assistance to fast bowlers and according to Bond it has more bounce and swing than any of the other wickets that New Zealand have played on this World Cup. “It’s a small ground,” Bond added. “We have a long batting line-up, some big hitters, so it might suit us better and should be an ideal ground when playing a side like Sri Lanka.”Bond has 12 wickets at 12.83 from seven matches in the tournament. He missed New Zealand’s final Super Eights game against Australia due to a stomach complaint and his side lost by 215 runs. The defeat, Bond said, was disappointing because New Zealand were a better side than the one bowled out for 133 in 25.5 overs.”The moment we beat South Africa [in their penultimate Super Eights game], we knew we would be playing Sri Lanka and that became our sole focus,” he said. “So we didn’t do ourselves justice; we weren’t focused. But we are here for the game we really want to play and we’ll turn up for this match.”Winning the World Cup will give a huge boost to cricket in New Zealand, felt Bond. “I think people are hoping we win but aren’t speaking it,” he said. “I think even to make the final would be a huge buzz and an Australia-New Zealand final would be something special.”