http://www.senore.com/Cricket/MJ-Clarke-c1978 for MCG win – Cricket News Update
Former Indian skipper, Sourav Ganguly credited Clark's faith in the ageing middle-order duo of Ponting and Hussey for Australia's Test win over http://www.senore.com/Cricket/India-c750 at the MCG.
In a thrilling opening encounter, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Clarke-c51120’s men ran out deserving winners by a whopping 122-run margin, mainly attributed to the heroics of their veterans which used all their experience in the second innings to counter the threat of the Men In Blue bowlers.
The Aussie conjured up 333 while batting first on a green top, with Ponting scoring a composed knock of 62 and despite taking a 51 run lead, the Aussie top order could not withstand the Indian pacers and were reeling at 27 for 4 before Punter and Hussey
put on a crucial 100-run stand to get the hosts back on track.
Ponting again perished after making 60 but his veteran partner continued with new found form to register a commanding 89, helping to set up 292 for their opponents.
With the duo coming under considerable pressure following poor outings in recent times, keeping faith in the ability of the veteran led Ganguly to admire Clarke’s leadership qualities.
"The captain is so important and Clarke has showed a lot of faith and respect in senior pros http://www.senore.com/Cricket/RT-Ponting-c2377 and Mike Hussey,” Ganguly wrote in his column for 'Sydney Morning Herald'.
"A lot of teams have leaders who look to keep the past captain away as they want their own boys and own group, but Clarke has showed enormous maturity in that department. That will really stand him in good stead with his tenure as captain. You can see that
in the way Ponting and Hussey bailed him out of trouble at the crucial juncture," added Ganguly.
In the end, the Men In Blue were robbed of striking first blood, courtesy of an assured performance from the Aussie bowling attack where http://www.senore.com/Cricket/James-Pattinson-c1653 all rose to the task and inflicted a sterling victory for the hosts.
The ex-Indian skipper praised the bowling efforts of the trio and commended the new-look Aussie pace batteries. The next bout sees both sides locking horns on January 3 at the SCG.
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