But his team didn’t fail, as the youngsters Shane Watson and Cameron White put together a century partnership to guide the team to victory. Ponting is happy to see how the youngsters tackled the pressure situation effectively.
“Losing two early wickets set us back a bit, but Cameron White and Shane Watson controlled things really well after that,” Ponting, who was named player of the tournament for his 288 runs at an average of 72, said at a post-match press conference here on Monday night.
“It’s one of our strengths that when the so-called big names don’t stand up, others get up and do the job. The young guys are starting to make major impacts in world events.”
Gradually, the Australian team is back to its dominating best in one-day cricket. The squad, which lost majestic players like Adam Gilchrist and Matthew Hayden at the top, struggled for a bit, but is well on its way to the top. The 6-1 ODI series triumph and the Champions Trophy victory are testimony for that.
“We’ve been on the road for five months, we’ve had our ups and downs but this is a satisfying way to finish.”
“It’s good to have the winning feeling back again, our one-day cricket was great in England and we’ve carried over here. We’ve got a short break before we head off to India for seven one-day games, so it would be nice to keep a similar group of players and perform well over there,” he said.
Ponting is ecstatic to win the tournament. “I’m ecstatic to win a tournament as big as this one. It’s the second biggest one after the World Cup. It’s a very special achievement and a massive positive after the ups and downs of the last 18 months,” Ponting said. “As a team, we pride ourselves on adapting to different conditions around the world.”
Ponting also praised New Zealand for entering the final despite losing key players to injuries, including captain Daniel Vettori, Jesse Ryder, Jacob Oram and Daryl Tuffey.
“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.
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