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Ponting salvage Australian pride
CricBD Staff
13 April, 2006
 Ricky Ponting's 31st Test century salvaged Australia's pride with a three-wicket win over Bangladesh on the fifth and final day in the absorbing first Test at the Fatullah Stadium on Thursday.
The Australian captain, overnight 72, showed nerves of steel to dig deep and score an unbeaten 118 to lead the visitors to 307 for seven in their second innings in the fourth over after lunch while chasing a challenging target.
The number one team in the world needed 95 runs for victory when they resumed the final day on 212-4 but the world's lowest-ranked Test team threatened to pull off an upset when Mohammad Rafique dismissed Adam Gilchrist and Shane Warne in quick succession.
But Ponting's mastery made the difference as he found allies in Brett Lee and Jason Gillespie to give finishing touch to the job at hand. However, the Australia captain's heart must have been in his mouth when he mistimed a hook against Shahadat Hossain and skied the ball to backward square-leg on 97 just before lunch. Australia were still 24 runs away from the target with three wickets in hand but Mashrafe Bin Mortaza could not hold on to the catch despite a desperate dive after a long run.
Bangladesh had the best possible start when left-arm spinner Mohammad Rafique removed first-innings centurion Adam Gilchrist (12) with a beautiful delivery in his second over of the day.
The match went to the wire when the he trapped Shane Warne (5) leg before but Lee joined his captain to repair the innings with a 36-run seventh wicket stand.
After the desperate Tigers skipper Habibul Bashar opted to take the new ball after 96.1 overs, tearaway Mashrafe rekindled their hopes when he extracted bounce and had Lee (29 off 74 balls) caught behind by wicketkeeper Khaled Mashud.
But Gillespie, who survived 18 balls to remain unbeaten on seven, not only gave the captain tremendous support but also hit the winning boundary.
Ponting, who is four short of world's top century maker Sachin Tendulkar's 35 in 104 Tests, occupied the crease over six hours and hit 13 boundaries in 253 balls.
Rafique finish the second innings with figures of 4-56 to take his match tally to nine wickets after taking 5-62 in the first innings.
Gilchrist was adjudged Man of the Match for his 144 in the first innings.
"The final outcome once again proved that why we are the most consistent and best team in the world," said Gilchrist.
Adam Gilchrist takes the Man of the Match award in the exciting first Test between Australia and Bangladesh at Fatullah. © CricBD
Ponting admitted that the hard-fought victory against Bangladesh brought more relieve than joy.
"Yes, probably we are more relieved after avoiding what could have been an embarrassing defeat. It was a very good Test match to win," said the 31-year old Aussie skipper.
Ponting agreed that Bangladesh's performance was beyond their expectation but he issued a warning that they will come hard on the home team in the second Test starting in Chittagong from April 16.
"If we are well prepared for the next Test, Bangladesh won't be able to make this sort of a total against us anymore. We want to be physically and mentally fit to face it in Chittagong," warned Ponting.
"We were really surprised by their first day's performance because 355 runs in a day was simply outstanding. Actually Bangladesh had the better of play for the first two days. Nafees (Shahriar) played a sensational knock and it was a very good Test match hundred," he said.
"They played excellent cricket in the match and they proved that they are an improving side and they can trouble any team in the world. I think Bangladesh can take inspiration from the performance of this match.
"We were a long way off. A lot of our bowlers felt the pinch on the first day. But you saw that how quickly we learnt from our mistakes and that is the strength of the team. We were behind in the match but our team manage to get ourselves out of trouble most times than other teams in the world.
"This game was a prime example of that and at the end of the match, we did just enough to win. We turned a poor bowling performance in the first innings to a great one in the second.
"On the fifth day, you have to bat for long periods to make runs. It wasn’t an easy wicket to bat on in the last day. I thought we adjusted really well. But it was satisfying to be at the end to see the team through. It was a satisfying effort for us, as a team," he added.
Full Scorecard
Hopes replaces Watson in one-day squad
James Hopes has replaced Shane Watson in the Australian one-day squad for the Bangladesh tour.
Watson is still recovering from a calf injury sustained during the Pura Cup Final against Victoria.
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