Winning Champions Trophy a special achievement: Ponting

By Rahul Bajaj
for Cricketain.com

Published: October 6, 2009

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Centurion: Australian skipper Ricky Ponting applauded the efforts of all-rounder Shane Watson for his match-winning hundred in the final and also said that he was happy youngsters were standing up for the team on big occasions.

Watson, opening the batting, hammered 105 to complete his second successive century as Australia overhauled New Zealand’s total of 200 with more than four overs to spare to complete a six-wicket win retain the Champions Trophy. Watson, named Man of the Match for the second consecutive match, also made a hundred in the semi-final against England.

“I think people have now started to see the real Watson. He is showing everybody how good he can be,” Ponting said after the match.

The important thing about Watson’s innings was that he produced his best on two occasions when his team really needed it, first in the semi-final with Australia chasing 257 and then in the final with Australia struggling at 6-2, he and Cameron White (62) put on 128 for the third wicket to take Australia home.

The Australian skipper said he was happy to see the younger players making an impact in major tournaments.

“To see Watson and White stand up tonight and get us across the line was very satisfying. I think it’s one of our strengths that when the big names don’t stand up, others do the job,” said Ponting.

He said that the Aussies were looking forward to the tournament and even when they were playing in the seven match ODI series in England, which they won 6-1, they always had one eye on the ICC Champions Trophy.

“After the Ashes, ODI series started in England and we did well there to put ourselves in a position where we can give this tournament a little bit of a shake. We’ve played some great cricket over the last couple of weeks here,” said Ponting, who won the Golden Bat award for leading run scorer besides being adjudged the Player of the Tournament.

“Five months on the road has been a long time for the boys and we’ve played a lot of cricket. We always had one eye on the Champions Trophy and wanted to perform well in this tournament,” said Ponting. “To win a tournament as big as this one is a great reward for all the guys. It’s the second-biggest tournament after the World Cup, so it’s a very special achievement.”

Watson was beaming after playing yet another crucial knock and the dashing all-rounder said rebuilding the innings, from six for two wickets, was not an easy task.

“We needed discipline today, and we knew that if I was around till the 40th over, we had a chance. It was set up with Ricky’s help in the semi-finals to get me through, and he missed out today, but it was time for another to step up,” said Watson who was the obvious choice for the Man of the Match award for the second consecutive match. “The wicket today was a little slower than the other night but Kyle Mills and Shane Bond bowled beautifully straight up until me and White had a good partnership.”

Ponting also had encouraging words to say about New Zealand for making their second appearance in the final of the Champions Trophy despite being without key players, including captain Daniel Vettori, during the tournament. New Zealand won the second edition of the tournament, in 2000. They were already without batsman Jesse Ryder, all-rounder Jacob Oram and paceman Daryl Tuffey, and what came as a big blow, Vettori was ruled out of the final due to a hamstring injury.

“You have got to give a lot of credit to New Zealand. To lose the captain going into a big game was a major loss to them, but they performed very well,” said Ponting.

Wicketkeeper-batsman Brendon McCullum led New Zealand in Vettori’s absence. “Losing him (Vettori) was a huge blow. He’s a huge player who we look to not only for performance but also for inspiration, so to lose him was obviously disappointing,” said McCullum.

The stand-in skipper said his bowlers could have put pressure on the Australian batsmen if New Zealand had managed to reach 250. “I think if we could have got 250, the game would have been different. Kyle Mills and Shane Bond were brilliant, but unfortunately we didn’t provide them enough runs,” said McCullum. “We are disappointed, but we are proud of what we have achieved. We are proud of the desire and the passion the team has shown through some tough times.”

The story of the final could have been very different for New Zealand had McCullum not dropped a difficult chance from White off paceman Ian Butler when the batsman was on 15 and the total was 41. “It was crucial. Unfortunately, one went down and I was responsible for it,” said McCullum.

South African left arm pacer Wayne Parnell (11 wickets) won the Golden Ball award for the highest wicket-taker, while the Australian team members were given the special winner’s jacket.

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