Australia Crush to India by 24 Runs in Mohali
Ricky Ponting was a relieved man after a series-leveling 24-run win over India, and the Australian captain revealed that he was worried about their total of 250 not being big enough, but that his bowlers made victory possible.
"It was a good win but I thought we left out some 30-40 runs. We lost wickets at crucial moments which caused us to lose momentum and 250 seemed a little short. But our bowlers did a great job," a beaming Ponting said. Heaping praise on left-arm pacer Doug Bollinger, who took three wickets, Ponting said, "He showed his wicket-taking ability today. Everytime I pressed him into action, he did well. He and Shane (Watson), along with (Nathan) Hauritz did well and the whole bowling unit did a great job. The dew made it harder but we stuck to our job." Ponting was particularly happy that his bowlers have not allowed the Indian opening pair of Viernder Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar to score big knocks. Ponting also dismissed the suggestion that Sachin Tendulkar's dismissal, a terrible LBW judgement by umpire Ashoka de Silva, was the turning point of the match. Ponting seemed more impressed by Harbhajan's batting ability and described him as a dangerman in the powerplays.
Even though the team has lost a number of frontline players to injury, Ponting said the team was getting some balance now.
On losing the toss, Ponting said," I wanted to bat first, so it did not matter. I knew there would be some seam movement early on but once we see through that period, it would become flatter. I always prefer to set a good total and put pressure on the opposition."
"It was a good win but I thought we left out some 30-40 runs. We lost wickets at crucial moments which caused us to lose momentum and 250 seemed a little short. But our bowlers did a great job," a beaming Ponting said. Heaping praise on left-arm pacer Doug Bollinger, who took three wickets, Ponting said, "He showed his wicket-taking ability today. Everytime I pressed him into action, he did well. He and Shane (Watson), along with (Nathan) Hauritz did well and the whole bowling unit did a great job. The dew made it harder but we stuck to our job." Ponting was particularly happy that his bowlers have not allowed the Indian opening pair of Viernder Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar to score big knocks. Ponting also dismissed the suggestion that Sachin Tendulkar's dismissal, a terrible LBW judgement by umpire Ashoka de Silva, was the turning point of the match. Ponting seemed more impressed by Harbhajan's batting ability and described him as a dangerman in the powerplays.
Even though the team has lost a number of frontline players to injury, Ponting said the team was getting some balance now.
On losing the toss, Ponting said," I wanted to bat first, so it did not matter. I knew there would be some seam movement early on but once we see through that period, it would become flatter. I always prefer to set a good total and put pressure on the opposition."
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