http://www.senore.com/Cricket/RT-Ponting-c2377 rues over missing century at MCG – Cricket News Update
Australia’s seasoned batsman Ricky Ponting has lamented over failing to convert his half-centuries into hundreds during the ongoing opening Test against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/India-c750 at Melbourne.
With two consecutive fifties in the first Test, Ponting responded strongly to the concerns raised over his place in the side by cricket pundits.
The former skipper had been performing poorly for the past 12 months. However, he seemed to have regained his touch by slamming back-to-back half-centuries.
Both his innings were extremely valuable for the hosts, but Ponting is slightly disappointed over his effort, as he could not turn his good starts into big ones.
"It's nice to get a few runs. But when you get past 50 as a top-order batter, it's your job to go on and make big scores. I'm disappointed I haven't probably been able to do that in either innings of this game, particularly in the second innings when we
were fighting our way back into a pretty strong position,” Ponting, who has scores of 62 and 60 in the contest, said after the third day's play.
The match is evenly-poised at the moment. Having scored 179/8 in the second innings, the Kangaroos are 230 runs ahead, but have only a couple of wickets in hand.
However, the fortunate aspect of the contest for the Australians is that the veteran, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/MEK-Hussey-c1942, is still at the crease, batting on 79.
On a fourth day track, anything near the 300-mark would be mighty challenging for the Men in Blue. Ponting admitted that Hussey’s wicket is really crucial for both the sides.
He also conceded that since India has a strong batting unit, the hosts need to stretch their advantage a bit more in order to fancy their chances in the high-voltage battle.
He added, “We’re 230 runs ahead now which I think is a reasonable total for India to have to chase. Ideally, we'd like to make a few more runs than that.”
When asked about the pitch, the 37-year-old batsman, whose 60-run-innings played a decisive role in his team's revival in the second innings, shared that the 22-yards still have a lot of help for the bowlers only if they bowl in the right areas.
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