Ricky Ponting: a true World Cup champion

A gifted cricketer, Ricky Ponting was perhaps the best player of fast bowling in the world at his zenith and a brilliant all-round fielder. As he matured, he realised his full potential, flowering into one of the most belligerent strokeplayers of his generation.

A great puller like most Australians reared on bouncy tracks, Ponting was their perpetual one-down batsman, a sign of how highly rated he was right from the outset. As batsman and captain, Ponting was a true champion in the World Cup.

Ponting’s first innings of note in the 1996 World Cup was a 33 as Australia romped home easily against Zimbabwe. He was caught and bowled by leg-spinner Paul Strang after a 58-run stand with Mark Waugh.

Even as an indignant West Indies team upstaged Australia in the last group match, Ponting became the youngest centurion in the World Cup at 21 years and 76 days, a mark that remained till 2011. He hit 102 off 112 deliveries, cutting loose after admirable opening spells by the great duo of Curtly Ambrose and Courtney Walsh.

Coming down the wicket to attack the spinners, Ponting cracked 5 fours and a six, raising two fine partnerships with the Waugh twins. He put on 62 for the second wicket with Mark, and 110 with Steve. Richie Richardson, however, played a brilliant captain’s innings to wrest the match.

New Zealand set a mammoth target of 287 in the pulsating quarter-final. As Mark Waugh played a magnificent knock, Ponting scored 31 off 43 balls with 4 boundaries, helping the elegant opener add 65 for the second wicket.

Curtly Ambrose trapped Ponting leg-before for a duck in the semi-final as the Caribbean giant scythed through the Aussie top-order in tandem with Ian Bishop. Thereafter began a remarkable World Cup sequence for Ponting.

Starting with the 1996 final, through the victorious 1999 campaign and up to his third knock in 2003, Ponting was not dismissed in single figures in 14 successive innings, but managed only two half-centuries. His scores ranged between 18 not out and 69, which told a tale of a talented batsman whose impetuosity hindered his ascent towards the heights achieved by the world’s best.

Back to the 1996 final; after Mark Waugh fell early, Ponting helped skipper Mark Taylor add 101 off 115 balls. At the end of 25 overs, Australia were 134 for one and looked well on course for a mammoth total.

The Sri Lankan spinners, however, pulled the match back. By the 35th over, the scoreboard read 170 for five. Ponting was bowled by Aravinda de Silva for 45. The trophy eventually remained in the sub-continent.

Among his more significant innings in 1999, Ponting played two knocks of 47 as Australia lost successive matches. He put on 94 for the third wicket with Darren Lehmann but New Zealand coasted to an easy win. In the high-scoring match against Pakistan, Ponting raised 91 for the second wicket with Mark Waugh after Adam Gilchrist had perished for a duck to the third ball of the innings.

Steve Waugh’s team got its act together after these setbacks. Ponting scored his only half-century of the tournament in the crucial last super-six match against South Africa. His innings was lost in the encomiums showered on the skipper’s epic hundred, and the theatre surrounding the freak grassing of a catch by Herschelle Gibbs off Waugh’s bat.

It is often forgotten that it was Ponting who assisted the captain in a defining partnership of 126.

Australia had to win this match in order to qualify for the semi-finals, and they slumped to 48 for three, chasing a formidable target of 272. Ponting and Steve Waugh first steadied the ship and then attacked in an effort to bring the scoring rate to an even keel.

In his attempt to force the issue, Ponting holed out to Allan Donald at wide mid-on off Lance Klusener. His invaluable 69 came off 110 balls, with five hits to the ropes and two over it. Waugh carried on to wrest a memorable victory.

In the tied semi-final face-off against the same opponents, Ponting staged a 51-run stand with Gilchrist after Mark Waugh had fallen for nought. But he was dismissed for 37, and Australia slid to 68 for four.

Steve Waugh once again rescued his team, this time in alliance with Michael Bevan. The rest is history.

Australia ended up emulating the West Indies by lifting the World Cup for a second time. Ponting scored 24 in that facile eight-wicket triumph over Pakistan.

By 2003, Ponting was Australia’s one-day captain, and leading a team that had scaled great heights in the interim. The Waugh twins had gone, but otherwise it was largely the same outfit.

Just before the first match of the 2003 edition, Australia lost Shane Warne to a positive drug test. But the champion side shrugged off the absence of such stalwarts, winning all 11 matches in the tournament.

Ponting himself played a couple of scintillating innings which got him out of the rut of World Cup cameos that he had got into. The new skipper now stood tall and firm, forsaking his penchant for the short and sweet. There was no doubt that the bright kid of yesteryear was now a mature, mellow leader of men.

Pakistan’s great left-armer Wasim Akram sent shock waves down the Aussie line-up in their opening encounter, grabbing three early wickets. When their captain Waqar Younis knocked over a fourth in the 16th over, the score was only 86.

Ponting was joined by big-hitting Andrew Symonds, and they added 60 for the fifth wicket. Speedster Shoaib Akhtar, coming on for his second spell, dismissed Ponting for 53. He had faced 67 balls and hit 7 fours.

Symonds went on to play one of most ferocious innings in World Cup history. Australia eventually crossed the first hurdle with ease.

There was a string of four easy wins that helped fine-tune the Australian juggernaut. They, however, ran into serious problems against England who posted 204 for eight. Splendid fast-medium bowling by Andy Caddick and Australia’s own brinkmanship caused a top-order collapse. Ponting was fourth out at 48.

Wickets continued to tumble after a pause, and at 135 for eight in the 38th over, it seemed as though the reigning champions would suffer their first defeat of the tournament. But for the umpteenth time they drew deep into their reserves, showing the character and resilience of true champions.

Andy Bichel, who had captured seven for 20, now picked up the willow, and with ‘Terminator’ Michael Bevan, one of the best finishers in the One-day game, spun out yet another legend in the continuing saga of Aussie invincibility. They marched into the super-sixes, their unbeaten record intact.

So far Ponting had not risen above the ordinary, his sequence of double-figure knocks also broken. He set the record straight with a blistering hundred against the Sri Lankans.

Gilchrist and Matthew Hayden raised 75 first up. Then Ponting was associated in two century partnerships that virtually shut the door on the Lankans. He put on 106 with Gilchrist, before the belligerent wicketkeeper was run out for 99. Damien Martyn was his ally in a 112-run stand.

Ponting raced to his hundred off 96 deliveries and was eventually dismissed for 114. He had faced just 109 balls, rocketing 8 fours and 4 sixes, and bagging his first man-of-the-match award of the World Cup.

There was something about the St. George’s Park track at Port Elizabeth that seemed to tease the Australians in this tournament. Once again they slid to 84 for seven, as Kiwi speedster Shane Bond scorched the turf. And for the second time Bevan and Bichel rescued them to post a respectable total.

Glenn McGrath and Brett Lee returned the compliment and another big scare was laid to rest for the time being.

Kenya were beaten easily, though left-arm spinner Asif Karim caused a flutter. Rain cut short Sri Lanka’s sojourn in the semi-finals after Andrew Symonds had hit a brilliant unbeaten 91 off 118 balls.

On the big day at the ‘Bullring’, Ponting was a man inspired. After sizing up the Indian attack, he bludgeoned it in such emphatic style that even the star cast headed by Sachin Tendulkar stood no chance of getting even remotely close to the mammoth target.

As Sourav Ganguly inserted Australia in, the Indian pacemen seemed to have run out of steam 50 overs short of the terminus. They received a pasting from Gilchrist and Hayden who raised 105 runs in 14 overs.

Martyn joined Ponting at 125 after off-spinner Harbhajan Singh sent back both the openers. From then on there was just one team in the contest.

Martyn outpaced Ponting till they brought up their respective half-centuries. Martyn reached the mark in 46 deliveries with six fours, while Ponting got there off 74 balls with just one boundary. Then the skipper broke away, steaming to his hundred in another 29 deliveries, having stroked one more boundary and five towering hits over it.

This was Ponting’s third World Cup century, and 13th in one-dayers. He was simply unstoppable. There was mayhem in the last 15 overs as 143 runs were racked up. Towards the closing stages it was like the last round of a net session….over and over again.

Martyn scored 88 not out off 84 deliveries with 7 fours and a six. Ponting’s unbeaten 140, the unbroken 234-run partnership, and the total of 359 were all records for a World Cup final. In his 121-ball innings, Ponting clobbered 8 sixes, the highest in a World Cup innings, besides 4 fours.

Statisticians, and the Indian bowlers, were overwhelmed. The World Cup had been won even before India’s famed line-up had put bat to ball.

Ponting became the second captain, after Clive Lloyd in 1975, to score a century and claim the man-of-the-match award in a World Cup final. Australia emulated the West Indies by winning back-to-back titles, but surpassed Lloyd’s great team with their third triumph. Ponting had indeed reached the pinnacle in more ways than one.

By 2007 Australia had slipped and were no longer the invincible side they had been for about seven years since the 1999 World Cup. They faced a soft opening against Scotland, and Gilchrist and Hayden were as usual off to a flying start.

Ponting came in at 91 for one after 17 overs, and had a succession of useful partnerships. He was severe on medium-pacer Dougie Brown, slamming him for a series of boundaries and a six late in his innings. His fifty came off 48 balls.

Ponting also tonked the spinners Majid Haq and Glenn Rogers for two sixes each, raising his hundred in 85 deliveries and joining the illustrious company of Mark Waugh, Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly as the only batsmen to hit four centuries in the World Cup. He was eventually dismissed for 113, having faced just 93 balls and smashed 9 boundaries besides the 5 sixes.

Australia cruised to a comfortable victory by more than 200 runs. Ponting was the man-of-the-match.

The Netherlands faced a similar plight, but Ponting was able to play just a cameo. The first big test came against South Africa.

Hayden was in irresistible form, crashing the fastest century ever in the World Cup. Ponting was a cohort in the plunder, as they put on 61 runs for the second wicket in 8.4 overs. He then allied with Michael Clarke in a 161-run stand off 21.4 overs.

Ponting fell for a run-a-ball 91, having hit 8 fours, and 2 sixes off the seamers Andrew Hall and Shaun Pollock. Australia hit up their highest total of 377 for six.

The Proteas made a valiant effort but the target was too steep. The Aussies had made a big point.

They clashed with hosts West Indies in the super-eight, and Hayden rattled up a second consecutive hundred. This time the duo raised 66 in a little more than 10 overs before Ponting was run out to a brilliant pick up and throw from Ramnaresh Sarwan in the covers. He had scored 35 off 36 deliveries with 4 fours and a six, and Australia pulled off a win by over 100 runs.

Bangladesh were crushed by 10 wickets in a 22-over game. The Old Enemy England too were subdued by seven wickets.

After a 32-run stand with Hayden, Ponting put on 112 for the third wicket with Clarke. He was unlucky to be run out in successive innings, yards short of the crease when Paul Collingwood’s throw hit the stumps. It was a well-paced innings of 86 off 106 deliveries comprising 11 boundaries.

The Irish were predictably brushed aside, able to manage a paltry 91 runs. Sri Lanka put up just 226 on the board. After Gilchrist and Hayden had carted around a depleted attack, Ponting added 47 with Clarke. He then brought up an easy triumph in a 106-run partnership with Andrew Symonds.

Ponting remained unbeaten with 66, having negotiated 80 balls, and hit four of them to the boundary and one over it.

The last super-eight encounter was with New Zealand. After Gilchrist was out early, but Hayden and Ponting allied in a 137-run partnership. Ponting scored 66, having faced 70 deliveries and struck 7 fours.

Hayden went on to hoist his third hundred of the tournament. Australia ended up with nearly 350 runs and steamrolled through by a margin of more than 200 runs.

The reigning champions had blown away all opposition as they marched into the semi-finals. They met South Africa there, but the bowlers exerted such a stranglehold that the batsmen were presented with a target of just 150.

Ponting was castled for 22, having struck 5 boundaries. Australia won by seven wickets.

Gilchrist simply blasted the Sri Lankan bowlers in the final, first raising 172 with Hayden. Ponting put on 52 in just 7.4 overs with his rampaging wicketkeeper, who hit up 149 off just 104 deliveries. Then a direct hit from Mahela Jayawardene found the captain yards out of his ground, run out for the third time in the tournament. He had clocked up 37 runs off 42 balls.

The Lankans faded away, and Australia secured a hat-trick of World titles, two under Ponting. It was an amazing performance, having won all their 22 matches in the 2003 and 2007 World Cups. In 2007, they did not give even a sliver of a chance to the opposition.

This was Ponting’s best World Cup with the bat too, consistent and dominant, aggregating 539 runs at an average of 67.37 and a strike-rate of 95.39.

Returning to the sub-continent in 2011, neither was Ponting still at the peak of his powers, nor was his team a force to reckon with. They had a proud record to protect, but lacked the wherewithal.

It was an easy tournament-opener versus Zimbabwe though, and Ponting figured in a 79-run second-wicket stand with Shane Watson before being run out. Australia brought up a thumping win.

New Zealand too were rolled over easily but Ponting was stumped for 12. Then rain intervened in the game against Sri Lanka, and the unbroken run of 25 World Cup wins going back to 20 June 1999 was washed away.

A high-scoring match with Kenya was won with relative ease. Ponting was still unable to string a big score, dismissed for 36, but he added 89 for the second wicket with Brad Haddin.

Minnows Canada too could not provide much resistance, and Ponting this time scored just 7.

The team had so far not really been tested, and Ponting looked a pale shadow of his former self. The last league match opposite Pakistan would indicate the true class and form of the long-reigning champions.

After the early departure of Watson, Ponting joined Haddin and took his time settling down. He top-edged a short one from Wahab Riaz to the boundary, and in the same over played a splendid cover-drive to the ropes.

Shortly thereafter, Ponting was caught behind for 19. Australia were bowled out for 176 in 46.4 overs, with not a single batsman scoring a half-century.

The valiant Brett Lee bowled his heart out but could not prevent a Pakistani victory by four wickets. Australia’s enviable unbeaten record spanning 34 matches in the World Cup dating back to 27 May 1999 was laid to rest.

Australia might have been jolted, but they seemed a determined team in the uphill battle against hosts India in the quarter-final. Ponting came to the crease at 40 for one at the end of 10 overs. As Haddin went after the bowling, Ponting settled in carefully.

Having added 70 runs, Haddin departed for 53. It was then a lone battle for the skipper as wickets continued to tumble at the other end.

He brought up his fifty in 67 balls. Having earlier smashed Yuvraj Singh for 2 fours in an over, he hit the left-armer for a six and a four in his last over. He brought up his fifth hundred in the World Cup, and 30th in ODIs, in 113 deliveries.

His partnership with David Hussey having raised 55, Ponting perished to the reverse sweep, attempting to push the scoring rate. It was a splendid century, really a last stand, from one of the greatest batsmen of all time.

His 118-ball innings of 104 was embellished with 7 fours and a six. It gave Australia a splendid opportunity to upstage the home team, with the total climbing to 260 for six.

The inspired Indian side, however, batted well through the order to register a five-wicket triumph.

Ponting’s batting figures in this tournament were remarkably similar to those in the 1996 event, clearly indicating that the apprentice then was now a veteran whose best days were behind him. It was a bitter-sweet departure for Ponting from the biggest stage in one-day cricket.

Australia’s golden era in the World Cup came to an end. Runners-up in 1996, they had won three consecutive titles in 1999, 2003 and 2007. Ponting was the lone man to be part of all these final runs, two as skipper without a single defeat. Glenn McGrath and Adam Gilchrist are the only others with the distinction of being part of three World Cup winning teams.

With a great team disintegrating, and Ponting walking into the sunset, Australia looked to the 2015 World Cup on home soil for resurrection, and triumphed again.

Second to Tendulkar in the list of run-getters in the premier tournament, Ponting has 1743 runs to his name. His 46 appearances and 28 catches are World Cup records. He once formed a trinity of batsmen at the top of the hierarchy, along with Tendulkar and Lara.

But the abiding image of Ponting is of a fleet-footed batsman dismissing the ball contemptuously from his presence. Not for him the artistry of an oriental master, or the flair of a Caribbean maestro; Ponting was a true-bred Australian at the crease.

Ricky Ponting’s World Cup batting and fielding records:

Matches 46, Highest Score 140*, Runs 1743, Average 45.86, Strike-rate 79.95, Hundreds 5, Fifties 6, Catches 28

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