Ricky Ponting Reaches 12,000 Milestone, Looks Forward to Victory At Headingley
Ricky Ponting reached 12,000 runs to become the second cricketer in history to achieve this feat against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755 in the 2nd day of the MCC Spirit of Cricket Test at Headingley. However, the Australian captain was not concerned about personal glory; Ponting was determined to win the match they were trailing by 170 runs.
Ponting took the field with whispers of his decision to bat first against a very aggressive bowling side, which was blamed for the Australians poor performance, where they collapsed against with just 88 runs and a 170 run deficit. Ponting stepped up to the occasion and managed the highest score of the match, with a 61 not out. Even though, this was not one of Ponting’s best performances, he had given his side hope of a comeback.
Ricky Ponting is known for his uncompromising nature as a player, his batting style and consistent play has made him a successful run maker and is only the second best in his country, behind Donald Bradman. Ponting, the country’s 42nd Test captain, is not only an exceptional leader to his team, but also seems to set a new record every time he plays in a series. While the Australians performed brilliantly against other countries under him, the loss against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/India-c750 and that of Australia against England in the Ashes, which was the first since Billy Murdoch (when the Ashes were born), has sparked debate about his ability to captain in stressful matches.
However, Ponting has gone on to establish himself as the most successful Test captain in the history of Australian Test cricket. In the Boxing Day Test of 2009-2010, Ponting exceeded Steve Waugh’s 41 wins and overtook Shane Warne’s 92 victories as the most by an individual. He also holds the record for having never lost a World Cup game and unlike his previous role of just captaining the side, he has a say in the tactical decisions as well.
He has an attacking style of play, mostly always batting with a full flourish of the bat – using the cover drive and pull techniques. He’s second only to Sachin Tendulkar in the number of centuries in Test matches and One Day Internationals, reaching the 12,000 run milestone in his 247th Test inning, just like Tendulkar. Ponting is one of the very few players who actually prefers the traditional format of Test cricket to the Twenty20, retiring from the shorter format in 2009.
His performance yesterday, which brought the 170 run deficit to only 34, was very reminiscent of the Test in Sydney, earlier this year, where http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Clarke-c51120, captain and vice captain, performed well together, adding some 81 runs. In addition to his good form, Ponting was lucky as well, he escaped a possible lbw on a delivery by Pakistani youngster Mohammad Aamer. The second delivery took a similar route, hitting Ponting’s pad, but luckily only pitched the outside leg stump.
Right before the break, Mohammad Aamer and Mohammad Asif were in excellent form and looked to do damage, but Umar Gul did not impress like earlier and http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Danish-Kaneria-c1314 made some bad decisions which cost Pakistan important runs. Pakistan’s start to batting wasn’t too impressive, with Umar Amin being dismissed because of an unlucky shot. The match resumes today, and Ponting and his men will be well aware that there is still a chance for a famous victory at Headingley.
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