Ponting not looking at retirement

A day after Australian selection chief Andrew Hilditch declared Ricky Ponting would leave a void as big as Shane Warne, the Aussie skipper said he still had a lot more to contribute. Ponting said his job in the next few years is to try to pass on some of the knowledge and as much of his experience to the next generation. Ponting said he is relishing his cricket and is happy with his current form.

Final one-dayer washed out

Heavy rain washed out the seventh and final one-day international between India and Australia on Wednesday, giving the tourists a 4-2 series win. The umpires called off the game at 5:00pm (1130 GMT), two-and-a-half hours after the scheduled start, after persistent rain had rendered the pitch at the D.Y. Patil stadium on the outskirts of Mumbai unplayable.

The match held only academic interest because Ricky Ponting's injury-hit world champions, missing nine one-day regulars, had already taken a decisive lead by winning the last three games. Australia are due to fly home on Thursday to prepare for the upcoming Test series against the West Indies, while India clash with Sri Lanka in the first of three Tests in Ahmedabad from Monday. The first day of Sri Lanka's three-day tour opener against the Indian board president's XI in Mumbai was also washed out earlier on Wednesday.

Must win capitulate for India

In a bit of an anti-climax to a series that has been very closely fought, Australia emerged victors with one match still to go, in the most lop-sided match of the series so far. It was a clinical performance that put India on the backfoot from the start and never allowed them to recover. With Australia missing several key players, winning the series was all the more commendable, and a resounding stamp of success on the famed Australian never-say-die spirit.

Before the start of the match, there was some concern that it would be affected by early morning fog, which could have hampered the start of play. After India's batting performance, it seemed the fog would have been the better option. The pitch at the Nehru stadium in Guwahati has been bowler friendly in the past, but with it being newly relaid - and possibly swayed by the groundsman's comments that it was a 300-run pitch - Dhoni opted to bat on winning the toss. For the first three balls, it seemed it was business as usual for India as Sehwag hit the second ball of the match for a six. After that, the script changed dramatically.

From being the team that came within a heartbeat of chasing 350, India suddenly started resembling a team that didn't know how to last 50 overs. Johnson bowled Sehwag with the fourth ball of the match and completed a superb over by removing Gambhir in the same fashion off the last ball of the over. Tendulkar and Yuvraj shared a brief partnership, where both looked good, but disaster struck for India when Tendulkar was too early into a shot and ended up giving a return catch to Bollinger. In the course of his innings of 10 though, he crossed 3000 runs against Australia in ODIs.

Tendulkar was out off the first ball of the sixth over, and his wicket saw an immediate shift in the match, with Australia bowling three consecutive maidens. Off the last ball of the eight over, India sank further as Yuvraj was out under bizarre circumstances. Bollinger's delivery hit Yuvraj's pad and was rolling away, when, in an effort to get his bat back in the crease, Yuvraj deflected the ball onto his stumps. At 24/4 after 8 overs, India were in a hole. The pit got deeper when Raina fell an over later, tamely lobbing a delivery into mid-on's hands. Mitchell Johnson and Doug Bollinger had done the damage for Australia, picking up 3 and 2 wickets respectively. Ravindra Jadeja and MS Dhoni then started the painful process of rebuilding the innings. They both found the going tough initially, and were understandably reluctant to take any chances. As a result, runs slowed to a trickle as the priority became to conserve wickets. The partnership had progressed to 48 runs when Australia struck again through Bollinger who trapped Dhoni lbw for 24 off 77 balls. The partnership had consumed 21.1 overs, and at no stage did either batsman look likely to dominate the Australian bowling. However, they had done the hard work of laying a platform and Australia would have been pleased to break the partnership. They had more cause for joy when Harbhajan Singh repeated his previous match performance by departing for a second-ball duck and India were back in the dumps at 75/7 in 30.3 overs.

Ravindra Jadeja had been holding fort at one end all this while, and in Praveen Kumar he found an ally as they shared the highest partnership of the match to give the Indian total a smidgen of respectability. Praveen continued to impress with his new found batting talent, playing shots fearlessly and dragging India's run-rate above 3 runs an over. Jadeja too started scoring more quickly reaching a hard-fought half-century off 96 balls. The duo put on 74 runs in just 82 balls before Jadeja became Bollinger's fifth victim, trying to find the boundary but holing out. Jadeja had made 57 off 103 balls and departed when India were 149/8 in 44.1 overs.

Praveen Kumar, though, continued to blaze away and reached his maiden ODI fifty, getting there in 48 balls. He ensured that India crossed the 150-mark and gave himself and the other bowlers something to bowl at. The Indian innings ended at the end of the 48th over at 170, with Praveen not out on 54 off 51 balls. Even though it was a higher total than they would have expected given the horrific start, the aces all lay with Australia and they would have fancied their chances of wrapping up the series at the end of this match. They didn't let up in their concentration and intent and started off in what has become a familiar sight now - Watson picked off the boundaries, while Marsh dropped anchor and the run-rate rattled along at over 5 runs an over. However, Munaf Patel put a spoke in Australia's wheel, getting rid of Marsh in the fifth over with a straight ball that struck him in line. To make a match of it thereafter, India needed quick wickets to put some pressure on the Australian line-up, since their total was not big enough. However, Ponting and Watson ensured that there was no further immediate damage. They survived a some good bowling by Ravindra Jadeja and Harbhajan Singh, but importantly stuck in there as the advantage of the early wicket ebbed slowly but surely from India. With the required rate never being too high, Watson and Ponting built the score along steadily.

Harbhajan Singh then gave the Indians a glimmer of hope, getting both out in consecutive overs. He first had Watson caught at slip then snapped up his old nemesis Ponting, caught at leg slip. At 90/3 in the 21st over, Australia still had the advantage, but with the two wickets Harbhajan had given India the chance to get a foot into the door. However, with Hussey being in prime form and White not being too far behind, Australia shut the door firmly in India's face as the two put on a 53 run partnership in good time. Cameron White fell with Australia close to the win, but by then the required rate had come down to less than 2 runs an over, and with Hussey still there, the writing was on the wall for the Indians. The Australians duly achieved victory, getting there in just 41.5 overs with six wickets in hand. Michael Hussey was unbeaten on 35 while Voges had a quickfire 23 not out to his name. Hussey maintained his series average of over a 100, as once again the Indian bowlers couldn't find a way past his defences.

India will have a lot to look back and learn from in this series - of the four matches they have lost so far, the fourth and fifth ODIs were well within their grasp and would have been in the bag with a greater display of mental toughness, while the first one was the kinds that champion teams would go on to win after coming back from nowhere. If India do manage to learn lessons from this series, all would still not be lost.

Australia fight strong to level series

It was a match of contradictions. Australia who are normally excellent at running between the wickets and converting ones into twos had four run-outs in their innings.Australia are known for their fighting qualities more than anything else, and they never give the opposition any freebies, yet of four batsmen who reached 40 in their innings, three threw their wickets away, while the lower middle order and the tail caved in without a semblance of a fight.

India - whose recent fielding performances have been ordinary and whose bowling has been up-and-down - displayed tigerish fielding and bowled to tight lines. Dhoni actually called it the best fielding performance in the past 18 months. India's strong suit has always been their batting, and when the bowlers have done the job for them, the batsmen have mostly delivered a victory. And yet, a star-studded batting line-up failed, even though the total they were chasing was not formidable by any means.

The end-result of all the contradictions was a victory for Australia by 24 runs, whereby they levelled the series at 2-2, keeping it on a knife's edge. MS Dhoni had won a tricky toss and, defying conventional wisdom on batting beauties, had opted to bowl first. India were going into the match with Virat Kohli who replaced the injured Gautam Gambhir, while Australia had brought back Shaun Marsh in place of Adam Voges and thus had a proper opening combination of Watson and Marsh. However, Marsh looked a far cry from the batsman who set the IPL-2008 alight, struggling to place the ball in the gaps or get it off the square. The result was that Australia got off to a steady, rather than flying start. However, Marsh (5 off 23) fell in the eighth over, and that brought Ponting to the crease. The difference in tempo was immediate with Ponting unfurling his repertoire of strokes. The first wicket partnership had consumed 46 balls while moving the score to just 24 runs - the second wicket partnership was worth 64 runs and came off just 63 balls. It ended against the run of play, with Harbhajan Singh's first ball of the match. Watson got an outside edge, and MS Dhoni completed a brilliant reflex catch to send the opener on his way one short of his half-century. The third wicket to fall was that of Ponting who was looking in supreme touch and had motored to 52 off 59 balls, before Jadeja's moment of brilliance ended his innings. This was the third time in four matches that Jadeja had accounted for Ponting, getting him lbw in the first and third matches, and using his golden arm to run him out today with a pin-point direct hit from deep mid-wicket. The fact that on each occasion Ponting had crossed fifty would not be of much solace to him.

Ponting's innings in fact mirrored that of his team - there were lots of bright moments and it was a goodish score - but it ultimately fell short of what it promised to be. However, at 123/3 in 26.5 overs, Australia were still reasonably placed and could look at a total approaching 300 realistically. And the batsmen at the crease - Mike Hussey and Cameron White - reinforced that view with some aggressive play. They raised their fifty run stand in quick time, but once again a batsman fell against the run of play. This time it was Michael Hussey, who was also looking in fine form and had stroked and run his way to 40 off 41 balls, who holed out in the deep of an innocuous Yuvraj delivery. The stand had raised 73 runs in 68 balls, but Hussey fell just before the slog overs, when his presence at the crease alongwith a set White could have made a big difference to Australia.

With their most experienced batsmen gone, the Australia lower-middle order seemed to lose its way, and could not build on the platform provided by the top order. White threatened for a while, but he too fell victim to a good piece of fielding, when Ashish Nehra picked up the ball on his follow through and threw down the stumps in one motion as White was caught backing up too far. He had top-scored with 62 off 71 for his team, but as was the pattern through the innings, he couldn't capitalize. From 196/3 in 38 overs, Australia slid to 250 all out in 49.2 overs. Ashish Nehra was the pick of the Indian bowlers, with figures of 8-0-37-3, while Jadeja was the most economical, conceding just 27 runs in his 7 overs. When India came out to bat, Sehwag started off in his customary style. Anyone who had switched on the television without watching the Australian innings might have been fooled into thinking India was chasing 350 rather than 250, but as is also customary with Sehwag, he played one shot too many one time too many. After a whirlwind 30 off 19 balls, Sehwag fell, but he had gotten India off to a flyer. Virat Kohli was then given the chance to stake a more permanent claim to the international side, but he failed to grab it. Kohli made just 10 before falling to Bollinger, who had also scalped Sehwag.

At the other end, Tendulkar was playing watchfully, and seemed intent on a long stay in the middle. He built a partnership with Yuvraj, which was cruelly cut short when he was adjudged lbw to Nathan Hauritz. The ball would have missed the leg-stump by a fair margin, and Tendulkar walked back for 40 off 68 balls - just 7 runs short of reaching 17,000 runs in One Day Internationals. This was the venue where he had crossed 12,000 runs in Test matches against the same opposition, but destiny was not with him today. Tendulkar's wicket started a slide from which India found it difficult to recover. Yuvraj and Dhoni were unable to repeat the heroics of their previous match, when they foolishly chose to take on the safest of safe men in Ricky Ponting. Ponting's throw beat Yuvraj's lunge by inches, and Yuvraj became yet another run-out victim. Had he dived rather than stretched, he might have made his ground, but as it was, India were four wickets down and in a spot of bother with 113 on the board in 23.2 overs. The spot of bother became a full-blown pot-hole when Dhoni fell to the impressive Bollinger, who had returned for a fresh spell and struck in his first over. Dhoni had made 26 off 46 and in the company of Raina looked to be establishing a solid partnership, and his wicket was vital. India were then struck a body blow with Raina's wicket who was completely outfoxed by Nathan Hauritz to be bowled. Raina was the last established Indian batsman, and the young Ravindra Jadeja succumbed under the pressure of a tight chase. In spite of the many run-outs and brilliant displays of fielding by both sides, Jadeja set off for a suicidal single - and picked of all men Ricky Ponting again.

At 7 down for 177, requiring slightly more than a run-a-ball, Harbhajan Singh and Praveen Kumar got together, with all of India hoping for a repeat performance from their first match, when they shared an 84 run stand to bring India to the brink of victory. However, this was not to be, as Harbhajan was unable to repeat his previous heroics, though he did hit a few trademark shots to score 31 off 25 balls, before being brilliantly caught and bowled by Shane Watson. The wicket would have been particularly sweet for Watson, since he was at the receiving end of Bhajji's blade in the first match. Watson then added a cherry to his cake by scalping Praveen Kumar too. Praveen had also tried to mount a challenge, scoring 16 off 19 balls, but when he was ninth out with India at 217, the writing was on the wall for India. Australia duly completed their victory as India were all out for 226 in 46.4 overs. Doug Bollinger was the bowling hero for Australia with 3 top order wickets to return with figures of 9-2-28-3, while Watson had 3/29 from 7.4 overs. The highest partnership in the Indian innings was just 40 runs, which was for the first wicket. That India managed to get close to the target in spite of that was because the target was low, and the tail contributed. Had the top-order strung together even one good partnership, India would have been looking at 3-1 rather than 2-2.

Ponting quits International T20

Aussie skipper Ricky Ponting today announced his retirement from international Twenty20. Ponting, who will continue to remain the captain of the Test and ODI sides, stepped away from the international Twenty20 format in an effort to prolong his playing career. Addressing the media, Ponting said: "After much thought and careful consideration I have advised Cricket Australia of my decision to retire from international Twenty20 cricket."

"I have also spoken to Andrew Hilditch, Tim Nielsen and Michael Clarke and I feel this decision provides me the opportunity to prolong my Australian Test and one-day career, an opportunity I am extremely determined about." "As I said after the fifth Test in London, I am hoping to continue playing Test cricket for as long as possible and retiring from the Twenty20 format gives me the best chance of doing this." "I will now have set periods of rest throughout the Australian summer and while touring which I feel will be very beneficial," Ponting said. "While I will no longer be available for Australian Twenty20 cricket, I look forward to playing with Tasmania's KFC Big Bash team where possible and to fulfilling my contract with the Kolkata Knight Riders in the Indian Premier League," he added. Cricket Australia Chief Executive Officer James Sutherland said: "We are very supportive of the decision Ricky has made and understanding of the reasons behind it." "Needless to say he will be a huge loss to the Twenty20 side but it does present opportunities for the other players and leaders within Australian cricket to gain further experience."

"While we have not seen much of Ricky in Australia's Twenty20 matches in recent times, his innings in the first ever Twenty20 International against New Zealand at Auckland was probably the best innings I have ever seen in the Twenty20 form of the game."

A formal decision regarding Ponting's replacement as captain of the Twenty20 side will be made later in the year. Australia's next Twenty20 International will be held on 5 February, 2010 when Australia takes on Pakistan at the MCG.