Brisbane, Feb 19: Having losing two games on the trot, Australia bounced back in typical style by defeating India by 110 runs in Brisbane. The home side looked in control throughout the encounter and displayed their ability to fight back under pressure. Skipper Ricky Ponting was impressed with the way his side turned the tide in their favour and hoped to maintain the winning momentum.
Excerpts from the post-match presentation ceremony:
On his thoughts on the game
It was a very good performance. I thought our batting [was impressive]–getting that sort of total, which we thought was just about par on that wicket. The wicket probably surprised us a bit with the new ball holding the surface a bit more than we thought it would. To get that sort of score was an excellent batting effort and then the bowlers were just outstanding. I think at one stage India had only hit five boundaries in their whole innings, so the bowling was first class.
On the team’s clear objective to atone for their loss against Sri Lanka
I think we had to do it very quickly. We had two disappointing losses in a row and we turned things around really quickly. In one-day cricket, in general, once you lose momentum and things start going downhill, it’s really hard to turn the tide. But we got there today and tuned the momentum our way, so hopefully we can carry this momentum through from here on end.
On whether it was good for Australia to have long breaks in between matches
I am not sure what the best preparation is. We’ve only been training one day before back-to-back games so it’s really not ideal, but we are managing the best we can. It has been a pretty long summer for us so whenever we get a chance to get a couple of days off, it’s important to make the most of it. Training before the weekend games was terrific. Although it didn’t show in Sydney, that hard work came through today.
On Brett Lee’s performance
We knew the wicket would offer a bit more at night, it always does at The Gabba. As you could see, the ball was still moving around quite late in the game. Brett [Lee] bounced back after being slightly disappointing in Sydney and that’s understandable—he hasn’t played any fifty-over cricket for a long time. So for him to get another ten overs under his belt will be great for him.
On Australia being used to playing on bouncy pitches
We should be able to play good cricket in all the conditions in Australia. The other night in Sydney, [it] was so disappointing [to fail] in conditions that probably seamed and nipped a bit; we couldn’t make the most of it. Tonight was a great way to bounce back and hopefully we can carry it on in Hobart.
