Ponting eyes Tendulkar's record

Ricky Ponting, after becoming the third batsman to cross 12,000 runs in one-day cricket, has said he is chasing milestones set by Sachin Tendulkar. Ponting chalked up his 28th ODI century, an unbeaten 111 from 115 balls, to help Australia demolish England and march into the ICC Champions Trophy final.

Ponting paid tribute to Tendulkar, the leading run-scorer in ODIs and Tests. "The number of innings of his I have been able to sit back and watch, I think he is an amazing player," he said. "Look at his stats and records and it's quite incredible for someone to have stayed in the game for 20 years. He has set benchmarks for guys like me to chase him and get as close as we can. If I had to last 20 years, I would probably be batting in a wheelchair."

Ponting received a round of applause in Centurion as he pulled Graham Onions for four to deep square leg, and then raised his bat to acknowledge the crowd and his team-mates. He sits at third behind Tendulkar and Sanath Jayasuriya in the list of all-time ODI run-getters. Ponting is the only Australian with over 10,000 runs and has an enormous buffer over the next of his countrymen on the list - Adam Gilchrist is second with 9619 runs.

"It is a nice achievement but I had no idea before the game how many runs I had scored," he said. "I hit runs for my country and when my career is over I can reflect on the successes."

In Tests, Ponting is also third to Tendulkar's 12773 runs with 11345. Like Tendulkar, Ponting has stepped down from playing Twenty20 internationals for his country.