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Australia v West Indies, 1st match, DLF Cup
'It was a pretty amazing game' - Ponting
Dileep Premachandran at Kuala Lumpur
September 12, 2006
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Ponting: 'As I said to all the
players last night, it's going to be difficult for us just to get the
tempo again'
© Getty Images
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After a gripping match that saw West Indies continue their uncanny tendency to self-destruct while Australia, as usual, summoned their never-say-die spirit, Ricky Ponting and Shane Watson spoke to the media about the suprises they encountered and how they quickly adjusted their sights.
Ricky Ponting
On the turnaround
We were really struggling. I thought we did a pretty good job with the
bat, to tell the truth. It wasn't the easiest conditions to bat in. We
didn't think it was till Shiv [Chanderpaul] came out and played the way he did.
[laughs]. That was probably the best way to play on that wicket, to just
back yourself and try and make use of the Powerplays. As I said at the
toss, I always thought it was going to be hard batting second. In these
sort of humid conditions, I thought it would seam around a bit more at
night time. Once we got those couple of wickets, we got on a bit of a
roll. I don't know what it was in the end - something like a 9 for 20-odd. It
was a pretty amazing comeback.
On McGrath's return
He was a little bit frustrated early on. He was actually swinging it,
which is very unlike him, so I told him halfway through his first spell
not to worry about swing and get back into hitting a good area. I thought
he was excellent in the second spell. It was a pretty important time to
come back on and take a wicket and keep things pretty tight. He'll only
get better with bowling. We all know that. That's the reason he's here, to
get some bowling under his belt.
It's his first game in 12 months, and he'd have been disappointed with
bowling as many wides as he did in his first spell. As I said to all the
players last night, it's going to be difficult for us just to get the
tempo again. I think Glenn was just trying a bit too hard in his first
spell. It's a matter of getting his body in the right shape to do what he
wants to do.
On whether they might have experimented too much with team composition
We've managed to win by 78 runs so I didn't think we experiemented too
much. Coming here with 18 guys, we were always going to mix and match, and
we've done the best job we can. As I said yesterday, some guys will get
two games, some will get three and only one player in the whole squad will
get all four games. That's the 'keeper [Brad] Haddin. That's just the way we're
doing it.
On Mitchell Johnson taking two key wickets in his second spell
At that stage of the game, I got Glenn and Mitchell back because I thought
they'd be our best wicket-taking chances. Mitch copped a bit of stick
early but to be able to come back and get those vital wickets was great.
It won't do his confidence any harm at all. It was a pretty amazing game
actually. We haven't had the chance to sit back and think about it.
On Johnson getting Lara for the second time in two games
That sort of wicket tonight, it was very suited to seam-up bowling. Once
we got a bit of a sniff, I told our bowlers to attack the stumps. We'll
have to make sure we play Mitch in the next game against the West Indies
if he's got that sort of record against Brian [Lara].
On what went through his mind as Chanderpaul and Gayle cut loose
It can be really hard to stop that sort of batting at times, no matter who
you bowl or what fields you set, when you're on a roll, as Shiv was, and
with Gayle joining in. But once you get two wickets, you expose new
batsmen to those conditions,
On what he thought of the pitch
It wasn't a great batting wicket. We made 280 batting first but there was
enough variation there to make it difficult.
On Watson and Johnson
Man of the Match and 4 for 40, I think Shane deserves to answer some
questions. It's terrific to see blokes that work so hard on their game get
some reward. Shane's been around for a while now, and played some
excellent cricket for us of late. Mitch is in the same boat, and just
keeps improving game by game. We need to keep exposing these younger guys
to the international game. Until you've done it a few times at the highest
level, you'll always have a few doubts in the back of your mind.
Shane Watson
On bowling in those conditions
Our batters did an extremely good job to get us to 280 and set us up. I
really enjoyed bowling out there. One-day wickets are usually extremely
flat, and geared towards the batters. When there's a little bit of
movement there, it's always handy to bowl.
On his tactics when the ball was being flayed everywhere
My thinking was to try and change it up a little bit. I was trying to bowl
a few yorkers, a few bouncers and a few slower balls to stop the batsmen
getting into a rhythm against me.
On missing a hat-trick
I'll take four wickets any day of the week. It would've been nice, but I'm
extremely happy to contribute to a really good fightback.
Dileep Premachandran is features editor of Cricinfo
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