Proteas thrash Aussies to ruin Ponting's farewell
Source: Agencies |
December 4, 2012, Tuesday
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SOUTH Africa asserted its position as the best team in the world with an emphatic 309-run victory over Australia in the third test to clinch the hard-fought series 1-0 and ruin Ricky Ponting's farewell yesterday.
Ponting had been hoping to sign off in his 168th test with a victory that would have allowed Australia to leapfrog the Proteas and return to the summit of the game it dominated for so much of his career.
It never looked getting anywhere near the winning target of 632 it had been set, however, and was bowled out for 322 in its second innings shortly before the scheduled close of play.
Australia captain Michael Clarke was named Man-of-the-Series for his double centuries in Brisbane and Adelaide and praised his team for taking the Proteas so close.
"I don't want to take anything away from South Africa," he said. "They showed why they are the No. 1 team in the world. When they had momentum, they went with it and when they didn't, they worked their backsides off to get it back."
The South Africans got the best possible start to the day with two early wickets which brought 37-year-old Ponting to the crease for his 287th and final test innings 45 minutes before lunch.
Welcomed onto the field by a guard of honor of applauding South Africans, he lasted just 40 minutes and 23 balls before the same players were shaking his hand as he headed back to the pavilion with eight runs to his name.
Two fours, the first a vintage pull, closed his test tally at 13,378 runs for an average of 51.85 from 168 matches - the second highest run count in the long history of the game.
Spinner Robin Peterson (3-127) will go down in the record books as the last bowler to dismiss the Tasmanian, tempting Ponting into an attempted cut which ended up as an edge into the hands of Jacques Kallis in the slips.
The former Australian captain took off his helmet and raised his arms to accept the applause of the crowd before taking his leave from the field where he made his test debut 17 years ago.
"I probably had in mind a bit more of a fairy tale ending than I've had here," he said. "Graeme's gesture, that sort of thing will live with me forever."
Smith said he wanted to honor his toughest opponent. "He is the player I respect most," he said. "It was a sign of respect from us for someone who has given the game so much."
Ponting finishes his career with 13,378 test runs at 51.85, including 41 centuries.
Ponting had been hoping to sign off in his 168th test with a victory that would have allowed Australia to leapfrog the Proteas and return to the summit of the game it dominated for so much of his career.
It never looked getting anywhere near the winning target of 632 it had been set, however, and was bowled out for 322 in its second innings shortly before the scheduled close of play.
Australia captain Michael Clarke was named Man-of-the-Series for his double centuries in Brisbane and Adelaide and praised his team for taking the Proteas so close.
"I don't want to take anything away from South Africa," he said. "They showed why they are the No. 1 team in the world. When they had momentum, they went with it and when they didn't, they worked their backsides off to get it back."
The South Africans got the best possible start to the day with two early wickets which brought 37-year-old Ponting to the crease for his 287th and final test innings 45 minutes before lunch.
Welcomed onto the field by a guard of honor of applauding South Africans, he lasted just 40 minutes and 23 balls before the same players were shaking his hand as he headed back to the pavilion with eight runs to his name.
Two fours, the first a vintage pull, closed his test tally at 13,378 runs for an average of 51.85 from 168 matches - the second highest run count in the long history of the game.
Spinner Robin Peterson (3-127) will go down in the record books as the last bowler to dismiss the Tasmanian, tempting Ponting into an attempted cut which ended up as an edge into the hands of Jacques Kallis in the slips.
The former Australian captain took off his helmet and raised his arms to accept the applause of the crowd before taking his leave from the field where he made his test debut 17 years ago.
"I probably had in mind a bit more of a fairy tale ending than I've had here," he said. "Graeme's gesture, that sort of thing will live with me forever."
Smith said he wanted to honor his toughest opponent. "He is the player I respect most," he said. "It was a sign of respect from us for someone who has given the game so much."
Ponting finishes his career with 13,378 test runs at 51.85, including 41 centuries.
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