Ponting leads Australian fightback

Adelaide—Ricky Ponting etched another notch in the history books by becoming the most prolific Australian century-maker of all time, but even his latest magnum opus - an emphatic 142 from 245 balls, most of which came in a 192-run stand for the third wicket with Michael Hussey - wasn’t enough to deny England a share of the honours on a compelling and hard-fought third day at Adelaide.
England’s hero was Matthew Hoggard. He made two big incisions in the first hour of the day when Matthew Hayden and Damien Martyn both swished at imagined width outside the off stump. Then, after serving his time with the old ball, with old-fashioned fields and Geraint Jones standing up to the stumps, he trudged back to his mark with the new ball late in the day, whereupon he dislodged Ponting with the sixth delivery of his new spell, and bowled Hussey off the under-edge of his bat for 91.
For the second match running, Ponting’s fury at giving his innings away was visible to all as he kicked the turf and stalked back to the pavilion. As had been the case at Brisbane, it was an admission that his job was far from complete, and left with a tricky hour to negotiate, Australia reached the close on 5 for 312, still 239 runs adrift. Adam Gilchrist was hanging in there on 13 not out, having faced the inevitable round-the-wicket assault from Andrew Flintoff, while Michael Clarke had clipped four determined boundaries in his unbeaten 30.
It had by no means been Ponting’s most fluent innings, but his current form is such that all things are relative. This was his tenth hundred in 13 Tests, and his second in three innings this series, to move clear of Steve Waugh (32) and into fourth place on the all-time list of Test centurions. He has now made exactly 1200 runs for the calendar - some distance behind Mohammad Yousuf of course, but with three big innings still awaiting him. By his own admission it was a “scratchy” performance, but on a slow wicket and with a mountain of English runs towering over him, he could be forgiven.
The average mortal might argue with his self-assessment, but he did need one huge slice of luck on 35, when Ashley Giles at deep square-leg failed to time his jump correctly as Ponting swished angrily at a Hoggard long-hop. Moments earlier he had lost sight of an erratic full toss from Steve Harmison that passed harmlessly by his off stump, and he still seemed to be rattled when Paul Collingwood at square leg missed with a shy that would have had him run-out by a good two yards.—Agencies