St. Peter's: Saturday's denouement was chilling. After Australia defeated Bangladesh in a shortened Super Eight game by ten wickets, captain Ricky Ponting made sure there was no bravado that could come back to haunt him.

"We are playing somewhere near our best," he said. "But, there are no trophies being handed out now. We have to make sure we keep a lid on things; we have to look at our deficiencies. There are no easy games from now. And that's what I've told the guys in the meeting. We need to take a good, hard look at ourselves."

Room for improvement

There's nothing more dismaying for rivals than the champion saying there's room for improvement. And then following up on it. From most sides, such talk can be discounted. Rarely do intent and ability meet and embrace.

But, Australia has done more than any other cricketing side to further its ability. Take Saturday for instance. With Friday's rain shortening it to 22-overs-a-side, Bangladesh and the neutral thought it was to Australia's detriment.

BACK IN FORM: Adam Gilchrist's breezy knock should give him the much-needed confidence ahead of the crucial matches. — PHOTO: AFP

Bangladesh coach Dav Whatmore went so far as to say, "We didn't mind it. They're ranked two and we're ranked nine, so there's a fair bit of distance. A shortened game certainly gave us more of a chance to cause an upset." Ponting didn't buy the theory.

"Do you think I'd go into a match thinking I'd lose?" he asked, a touch shrilly.

"I didn't think they had a better chance. I was sure we could get whatever they set us. I knew they had just two fast bowlers and then the spinners. All we had to do was to get through the new ball."

Adapting to conditions

Ponting's bowlers kept Bangladesh to 104. At one stage, Habibul Bashar's men were in danger of being bowled out within 22 overs. Man-of-the-match Glenn McGrath took three for sixteen in five overs of finely-calibrated, varied deliveries. He went past Wasim Akram's tally of 55 wickets and became the World Cup's highest wicket-taker.

McGrath's control is a given, but Ponting's tactical capability — a lack of which he is often criticised for — was refreshing. He gave McGrath the new ball not for reasons of sentiment — though he did joke later that, "Glenn was pretty keen to get the new ball against Bangladesh" — but for reasons forged on cricket sense.

"The way the wind was blowing, I thought it would help (Nathan) Bracken and (Shaun) Tait, so I kept them at one end," said Ponting.

"From the other I had Glenn into the wind, and he could exploit the moisture in the pitch."

Bangladesh's top-order looked to charge McGrath. They didn't get far.

"McGrath is their most economical bowler," said Whatmore. "The boys knew that. They still wanted to hit him! I wasn't very happy with that, and that's the frustrating bit. I've got a lot of talent to work with. It's just introducing that bit of logic. There was also some inexperience there." Australia did have one scare though: Shane Watson went off the field with a left-calf strain in the eleventh over of Bangladesh's innings. He's scheduled to undergo a scan.

Ponting expects the all-rounder to be alright. But Ponting admitted Watson's hypothetical loss would force a reshuffle of the sheaves of strategy, for he brings much to the side as "the fourth pacer who's pretty handy with the bat".

Adam Gilchrist and Matthew Hayden put on a typically dominant unbeaten 106, hitting four sixes between them, to emphasise Australia's superiority.

Their stand meant, however, that the under-cooked middle-order didn't get to bat.

"I'm obviously pretty aware that (Andrew) Symonds and (Michael) Hussey haven't had much time in the middle," said Ponting.

"Our fast bowling has been fantastic, so has our spinner. Our top-order has got runs, so it's just the middle-order.

"If we go through the tournament without either having to do much, that'll mean that we're getting the job done. But, both are training hard. They say they feel in control of things, so may be against England, they'll get a chance," he added.

SCOREBOARD

Bangladesh (22 overs max.): T. Iqbal c Hogg b Bracken 3, S. Nafees b McGrath 1, A. Ahmed c Bracken b McGrath 11, S. Hasan c Gilchrist b Tait 25, M. Ashraful c Ponting b McGrath 6, H. Bashar c Ponting b Bracken 24, M. Mortaza (not out) 25, M. Rahim (not out) 2. Extras (w-7) 7; Total (for six wkts. in 22 overs) 104.

Fall of wickets: 1-4, 2-8, 3-25, 4-37, 5-65, 6-97.

Australia bowling: Bracken 4-0-20-2, McGrath 5-0-16-3, Tait 4- 0-28-1, Watson 1.4-0-4-0, Hogg 5-0-20-0, Symonds 2.2-0-16-0.

Australia: A. Gilchrist (not out) 59, M. Hayden (not out) 47, Extras 0. Total (for no loss in 13.5 overs) 106.

Bangladesh bowling: Mortaza 4-0-20-0, Baisya 2.5-0-35-0, Aftab 0.1-0-1-0, Razzak 3-0-15-0, Rafique 3-0-21-0, Hasan 0.5-0-14-0.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail