Ponting cracked 24 boundaries to finish the day unbeaten on 176 with Adam Gilchrist not out nine and Australia heading towards a massive first innings total.
Opener Justin Langer and Simon Katich both completed half-centuries as Australia’s top order went on the rampage, setting a record for the most runs in a single day at Adelaide Oval.
India replaced injured spinner Harbhajan Singh with Anil Kumble and fast bowler Zaheer Khan with teenage Test debutant Irfan Pathan but struggled to make any inroads on a placid pitch that offered little assistance to the bowlers.
Australia lost openers Matthew Hayden and Langer before lunch then Damien Martyn, Steve Waugh and Katich in the final two sessions but continued to score at better than a run a minute throughout the entire day.
The in-form Ponting followed his twin half-centuries in last week’s drawn first Test in Brisbane with his 10th hundred from his last 19 Tests.
He had a lucky escape on 17 when he was dropped by Virender Sehwag at third slip and again on 109 when he survived a confident appeal for leg before wicket from Kumble but hardly played another false shot.
The Tasmanian raced to 50 off 64 balls then brought up his century after lunch from 117 deliveries when he drove Ajit Agarkar for four.
His end of day score was his third highest in Test cricket, just 30 behind his career best of 206 which he made in the West Indies earlier this year.
Katich posted his highest score of 75 as he registered his second Test fifty in just his fourth match. His innings featured nine fours and a six and only ended when Sewag held a diving outfield catch off Ajit Agarkar.
After winning the toss and choosing to bat first, Australia suffered an early setback when Hayden fell for 12 with the total on 22.
Langer and Ponting put on 113 in 93 minutes with Langer hitting 20 runs off Kumble’s sixth over to reach his half-century off 64 balls only to throw his wicket away on the second last ball before lunch, caught at mid-wicket by Sehwag after top-edging a sweep off Kumble.
Ponting and Martyn kept the runs flowing with 56 runs off the first 10 overs after lunch before Martyn departed with the total on 200 when he was caught at second slip by Vangipurappu Laxman off Ashish Nehra.
Retiring captain Waugh also made 30 before he played outside the line and was clean bowled by Nehra with the total on 252, bringing together Ponting and Katich.
Australia’s total broke the previous record of 387, set in 1968-69 against West Indies, for the most runs in a single day in a Test at Adelaide Oval.
Scoreboard
AUSTRALIA (1st innings)
J.Langer c Sehwag b Kumble 58
M.Hayden c Patel b Pathan 12
R.Ponting not out 176
D.Martyn c Laxman b Nehra 30
S.Waugh b Nehra 30
S.Katich c Sehwag b Agarkar 75
A.Gilchrist not out 9
EXTRAS (lb-6 nb-3 w-1) 10
TOTAL (for five wickets) 400
DID NOT BAT: A.Bichel, J.Gillespie, B.Williams, S.MacGill
FALL OF WKTS: 1-22 2-135 3-200 4-252 5-390
BOWLING (TO DATE): Agarkar 16-1-82-1, Pathan 21-3-96-1, Nehra 20-3-80-2 (nb-3 w-1), Kumble 28-1-115-1, Sehwag 5-0-21-0
INDIA: S.Ganguly (captain), A.Chopra, V.Sehwag, R.Dravid, S.Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, P.Patel, A.Agarkar, A.Kumble, A.Nehra, I.Pathan.—Reuters