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| April 30, 2007 | Monday | Rabi-us-Sani 12, 1428 |
Ponting hails unbelievable Gilchrist
BRIDGETOWN, April 29: Australian skipper Ricky Ponting hailed Adam Gilchrist for his ‘unbelievable’ 149 after sweeping to an unprecedented hat-trick of consecutive World Cup titles on Saturday.
“He hasn't played a better one,” Ponting said. “To go out in a World Cup final and play 149 off 104 balls, hardly missed the middle of the bat for most of the day, it is an unbelievable innings.
“One of the best innings you will ever see and it was one of the best innings I have ever seen.
“Matty Hayden in many ways has been the batsman of the tournament and he (Gilchrist) has been at the other end looking pretty shaky and scratching.
“There was one difference in both teams today, in the outcome of the game and that was Gilly's innings.
“To take the game away from the opposition as Gilly did was pretty special stuff and to happen in the final says a lot about the bloke.”
Meanwhile, Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene believes that Australia have that something extra which separates champions from the others.
“I think they always keep improving. A lot of teams have competed really well against Australia in the past, but maybe when they come to a big tournament they seem to have that little bit of extra,” said Jayawardene.
“They have different ways of going about things. They went unbeaten when it was difficult to remain unbeaten in the tournament because of different conditions and opposition, but they played really good cricket.”
Australia are unbeaten in their 29 Cup matches beginning with 1999, with their last 22 wins coming under Ponting's captaincy.
“Probably wait for some of their players to retire soon. One (fast bowler Glenn McGrath) is going,” Jayawardene said when asked of the gap between Australia and other nations.
“We thought we had a very decent chance in the final. We initially thought that it's a 100-over game and had an even chance, but they proved us wrong.
They have some very good players who deliver in big games.”
The Sri Lankan captain was all praise for Gilchrist.
“That was a brilliant innings and unfortunately I was the opposing captain looking at it. He did the same to us in one of the VB finals at Brisbane,” Jayawardene said, referring to Gilchrist's century at Brisbane last year.
“I can't take anything away from our guys because they bowled in good areas. It was solid hitting. You can't control when Gilly is in that kind of mood and it was difficult chasing after that.”
Jayawardene said he was still satisfied with his team's performance in the tournament because the players put in a lot of hard work.
“I am very proud of the guys because they put in very good effort. When we were leaving Sri Lanka, we were a good team but no one expected us to be in the final,” said Jayawardene.
“We proved a lot of people wrong because we worked very hard in the last six months. I am really proud of the way the guys performed in the tournament.
“I am disappointed with the final because this is a lifetime opportunity for you to win a World Cup. We didn't play that well, but obviously it was because of a brilliant knock.
“You try different things, but sometimes even a mistimed shot went over the ropes, so it was Gilly for you. You just have to wait for an opportunity. I thought 240-250 would have been a very competitive to chase.”—Agencies
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