Cricket: Aggressive bowling a winning formula for Ponting

7.30am

CENTURION, South Africa - Australia captain Ricky Ponting said the way his fast bowlers bullied India into submission in their Group A match on Saturday (Sunday NZT) was all part of a calculated plan.

With man-of-the-match Jason Gillespie, Brett Lee and Glenn McGrath all in top form, India were skittled for 125, their lowest-ever World Cup total, before Australia knocked off the runs required in only 22.2 overs.

"Bowling short of a length at them was a definite plan and it worked very well today," said Ponting.

"Their players had struggled on the recent tour of New Zealand and we wanted to continue with the way they had bowled to them, fairly short and aggressive.

"The tactic was designed to unsettle the batsmen and it did it fairly well as it didn't let any of their batsmen get away from us.

"At the same time, the tactic can also give you some dot balls to build pressure so it worked both ways and it was pleasing the way all the bowlers stuck to the plans today," he added.

With that strategy in mind, Ponting gave the new ball to Lee ahead of Gillespie and was rewarded with outstanding performances from both players.


Lee produced a hostile opening burst that yielded two for 17 before finishing with figures of three for 36, while Gillespie took three for 13, one of the most economical spells in World Cup history.

McGrath, meanwhile, was his usual miserly self with one for 23 in eight overs.

"India's weakness is sheer pace and bounce and if anyone will get that out of the wicket it will be Brett Lee," said Ponting.

"I wanted him to blast out a couple of their top order and he did that, which set us up from there.

"Glenn McGrath then bowled a couple of maidens in a row just as Jason Gillespie came on and we really tightened things up against them.

"The key is that our bowling line-up is flexible and we can use them all at different times and in different situations.

"It was great to see Jason, who has been a new ball bowler for so long, come on and do a fantastic job as first change. It says a lot about him and the way he has developed, and the same is true of the way Brett performed when he opened the bowling."

The win, which was cemented by a 100-run opening stand from Adam Gilchrist and Matthew Hayden, means Australia have cruised through their first two games of the tournament, matches that were expected to be their toughest in Group A.

With their remaining matches against the Netherlands, Zimbabwe, Namibia and England, Australia are hot favourites to qualify for the Super Six stage of the tournament unbeaten.

"We have played particularly well in these two matches (against Pakistan and India)," Ponting added.

"We knew they might be among our toughest so we geared ourselves up to making sure we were somewhere near our best for them.

"In 1999, we made a slow start and we spoke about not wanting to do that again so we focused on doing well in these two games.

"We have done that now but we can't take things easy, we have just got to keep working and improving."

Australia's next match is against the Netherlands in Potchefstroom on Thursday.

INDIA v AUSTRALIA SCOREBOARD:


India:


S Ganguly c Gilchrist b Lee 9


S Tendulkar lbw b Gillespie 36


V Sehwag c Gilchrist b Lee 4


R Dravid b Gillespie 1


Y Singh lbw b McGrath 0


M Kaif c Symonds b Gillespie 1


D Mongia c Symonds b Lee 13


A Kumble not out 16


H Singh lbw b Hogg 28


Z Khan lbw b Lehmann 1


J Srintah run out 0


Extras (lb-5, w-10, nb-1) 16


Total (all out, 41.4 overs) 125


Fall of wickets: 1-22 2-41 3-44 4-45 5-50 6-78 7-80 8-1209-125


Bowling: McGrath 8-3-23-1, Lee 9-1-36-3 (nb-1, w-3), Gillespie 10-2-13-3 (w-1), Symonds 6-0-25-0 (w-4), Hogg 4.4-0-16-1, Lehmann 4-0-7-1


Australia:


A Gilchrist st Dravid b Kumble 48


M Hayden not out 45


R Ponting not out 24


Extras (lb-3, w-8) 11


Total (for one wicket, 22.2 overs) 128


Fall of wickets: 1-100


Bowling: Srinath 4-0-26-0 (w-1), Khan 4-0-26-0 (w-1),H.Singh 7.2-0-49-0 (w-1), Kumble 7-0-24-1 (w-1)


Result: Australia won by nine wickets.


- REUTERS

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