Thursday, March 29, 2007

Australia are close to 'optimum'


Australia captain Ricky Ponting says his side are approaching their top form after beating West Indies by 103 runs in the Super 8 match in Antigua.

In a one-day match which spanned two days, Australia's bowlers proved too much for West Indies and they were dismissed for 219, chasing 323.

Ponting said: "We are playing pretty close to our optimum.

"Matthew Hayden was the catalyst but the other batters did well and our new ball bowling today was very good."

Australia have now scored 300 or above in all of their four innings at the World Cup and Hayden registered his second century is consecutive matches as Australia blasted their way to 322-6.

Australia coach John Buchanan said Hayden had fully justified the decision to recall him to the one-day squad after losing his place following the 2005 tour to England.

"At the beginning of this tournament he is certainly making a statement about the opening batting role and his capacity to bat long innings, and to be flexible in his shot selection. That is pretty key to making good scores," he commented.

We've listened to other sides saying they don't fear us..but you have to back it up
Ricky Ponting

Apart from the early part of the South African innings in Australia's final first round match, the World Cup holders have not been pushed hard by the opposition.

But Ponting said: "It doesn't worry us that we haven't had many close games. We're trying to play the best cricket we can and win games as easily as we can.

"We've played excellent cricket from the moment we arrived here - we're setting some really high standards for ourselves - and the fact that we haven't had a close game is a reflection of that.

"The things about this team is we have been able to beat teams comfortably over the years, but when the close games gave come around, that's generally when we've been at our absolute best.

"Champions players - and we've got a lot of them in this side - generally play [well] when it gets tight."

He added: "We've listened to other sides saying they don't fear us. It's alright to say that, but you have to play a certain brand of cricket to back it up - and teams that have said that haven't done it.

"We're early in this tournament and we have to keep stretching ourselves, but if we keep working hard I can't see why we can't keep improving right the way through this tournament."

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