Ponting’s three-word recipe for Champions Trophy success
by David LEGGE
CRICKET: CENTURION, South Africa, Oct 3, 2009 - Skipper Ricky Ponting
needed only three words to explain why Australia crushed England by nine
wickets and qualified for the Champions Trophy final here Monday.
“Respect every ball,” was the message the 34-year-old leader drilled
into his team-mates at SuperSport Park Friday before the eighth ODI
clash between the countries in the last two months.
And this was the most humiliating of seven England losses with
Australia scoring 258-1 off 41.5 overs to surpass the 257 of England in
47.4 overs that owed much to 80 runs from bowler Tim Bresnan after a
top-order implosion.
This was not a match, nor even a mismatch. It was a massacre as
Ponting (111 not out) and man-of-the-match Shane Watson (136 not out)
created a record Australian one-day partnership.
Now the world champions are just one match away from becoming the
first country to successfully defend a competition that brought the best
eight countries to South Africa for a mini-World Cup.
Pakistan, beaten by a last-ball Aussie bye in the group stage, are
favoured to defeat New Zealand at the Wanderers in the other semi-final.
“I told my boys to take nothing for granted against England - to
respect every ball. We were pretty good and very good with the bat,”
Ponting told reporters.
“We were really looking forward to this game because playing in the
big ones is what it is all about. We stood up and got the job done and
now we look forward to getting our heads together before the final.”
Tasmanian Ponting always seems uncomfortable when his personal
achievements are raised and it was no different in Centurion after being
quizzed about his latest milestone.
When one of the great skippers struck a boundary by pulling Graham
Onions to deep square, he became only the third batsman after Sachin
Tendulkar of India and Sanath Jayasuriya of Sri Lanka to amass 12,000
ODI runs.
“It is a nice achievement, but I had no idea before the game how many
runs I had scored. I hit runs for my country and when my career is over
I can reflect on the successes,” he said.
Ponting preferred to laud Watson, who began the Champions Trophy with
ducks against the West Indies and India, before getting into the groove
by scoring 24 off the Pakistani bowlers.
“Shane has been through a lean patch but is peaking at the right
time. He and I went through a few critical overs before the runs started
to flow,” admitted Ponting of the star who also snapped up two wickets.
England skipper Andrew Strauss offered no excuses despite the absence
of injured bowler Stuart Broad, who took 10 wickets in three group
games, and virus-struck wicketkeeper Matt Prior.
“This was a thoroughly professional job from Australia. Shane and
Ricky battled magnificently well after we fell about 40 runs short of
the total needed to be competitive on that track,” he confessed.
ENGLAND
A. Strauss c Hopes b Siddle 14
J. Denly c Paine b Siddle 36
O. Shah c Paine b Lee 00
P. Collingwood c Paine b Johnson 34
E. Morgan c Paine b Watson 09
S. Davies b Watson 05
L. Wright c Paine b Siddle 48
T. Bresnan b Lee 80
G. Swann run out (Hauritz-Siddle) 18
J. Anderson not out 05
G. Onions run out (Ferguson-Paine) 01
Extras (w6, nb1) 07
Total (all out, 47.4 overs) 257
Fall of wickets: 1-15 (Strauss), 2-16 (Shah), 3-71 (Collingwood), 4-91 (Denly),
5-100 (Davies), 6-101 (Morgan), 7-208 (Wright), 8-245 (Swann),
9-251 (Bresnan), 10-257 (Onions).
Bowling: Lee 9-0-46-2 (1nb, 1w), Siddle 10-0-55-3 (1w), Hopes 4-0-28-0,
Johnson 10-1-61-1 (3w), Watson 8.4-1-35-2 (1w), Hauritz 6-0-32-0.
AUSTRALIAS. Watson not out 136
T. Paine c Davies b Onions 04
R. Ponting not out 111
Extras (lb2, w5) 07
Total (1 wkt, 41.5 overs) 258
Fall of wicket: 1-6 (Paine).
Did not bat: Michael Hussey, Callum Ferguson, Cameron White, James
Hopes, Mitchell Johnson, Brett Lee, Nathan Hauritz, Peter Siddle.
Bowling: Anderson 8.5-0-48-0 (1w), Onions 8-0-47-1 (3w), Bresnan 8-0-51-0 (1w),
Collingwood 8-0-50-0, Swann 5-0-31-0, Wright 3-0-18-0, Shah 1-0-11-0.
Umpires: Billy Bowden (NZL) and Aleem Dar (PAK).
TV umpire: Tony Hill (NZL).
Referee: Jeff Crowe (NZL).
Reserve umpire: Asad Rauf (PAK). AFP |
