Punter leads Hurricanes home

Updated December 27, 2012 00:01:46

Ricky Ponting's second successive half-century led Hobart to a seven-wicket victory over Sydney in the Big Bash League at the SCG on Boxing Day.

The former Australian captain ended up unbeaten on 63 off 52 balls, as the Hurricanes chased down the Sixers' 8 for 154 to secure their third victory of the season.

Hobart was on pace for victory throughout its chase before a six from Ponting off former team-mate Brett Lee in the 16th over led to a change of ball which the visitors found much harder to get away in the face of sudden prodigious swing.

The following three overs from Luke Feldman, Moises Henriques and Sunil Narine conceded just 13 runs meaning the Hurricanes still needed eight runs off the last over, but consecutive fours from Owais Shah (13 not out) gave them victory with a ball to spare.

Batting in his customary number three spot, having previously opened, Ponting put on 84 for the second wicket with Aiden Blizzard (48).

Feldman (2 for 21) was the pick of the Sixers bowlers rattling the stumps of both Blizzard and Travis Birt (18).

Earlier the Sixers' top five all got starts but failed to turn them into match-winning contributions.

Michael Lumb provided the perfect platform hitting 34 off 22 balls before falling leg before to Xavier Doherty.

Ben Laughlin put himself at the top of the tournaments wicket takers' list with 4 for 31 taking the crucial wickets of Henriques (18) and Steven Smith (34).

Laughlin's return to the attack at the end of the innings, in partnership with Doug Bollinger (1 for 20), led to the Sixers posting a total which always looked below par.

The Hurricanes move level on points with second-place Adelaide and the Melbourne Stars, while a top-four finish looks an uphill task for the champion Sixers who have won just one game this year.

Tags: sport, cricket, twenty20, sydney-2000, hobart-7000

First posted December 26, 2012 22:20:40

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Punter winds back clock at Bellerive

Updated December 23, 2012 21:13:11

Ricky Ponting's highest Big Bash League score and a hat-trick from Xavier Doherty led the Hobart Hurricanes to a 30-run victory over the Sydney Thunder at Bellerive on Sunday.

Ponting, who turned 38 last week, hit 63 from 45 balls, putting on an opening stand of 111 with Tim Paine (40 from 34) in the Hurricanes' 4 for 177 after they lost the toss.

Spinner Doherty (3 for 32) grabbed a 17th-over hat-trick when he snared Simon Keen (24 from 12), Ryan Carters (10 from 10) and Cameron Borgas (0).

Doherty had Keen caught at mid-on by sub Jason Krejza and Carters stumped by Paine before Borgas appeared unlucky to be judged lbw.

That reduced the Thunder to 7 for 122 before they finished on 9 for 147 for their fourth loss in as many starts.

Earlier, Ponting reached his 50 from 36 balls with a huge six over midwicket off the bowling of Azhar Mahmood (0 for 44), the shot coming after consecutive fours.

With superb placement rather than brute power, the former Australia captain hit seven fours and two sixes in making his highest BBL score in his first Hurricanes match at Bellerive.

And to the delight of the crowd of 12,209, Ponting chipped in with the late wicket of Scott Coyte (10 from five).

The Thunder never recovered from losing openers Chris Gayle (13 from 14) and Mark Cosgrove (19 from 16 early) to be 2 for 36 in the sixth over.

They were 4 for 91 in the 14th when Mahmood (23 from 20) and skipper Chris Rogers' (24 from 28) rescue mission was ended.

Earlier, Hobart's bright start looked like it could be squandered when Paine and Travis Birt (0 from 4) were both out with the score 111 in the 14th over, delivered by young legspinner Adam Zampa (3 for 26).

But Englishman Owais Shah (26 from 16) and skipper George Bailey (30 from 13) salvaged the situation for the Hurricanes with a stand of 54.

The Hurricanes' victory took them to 2-2 at the halfway point of their campaign.

"I'm a pretty experienced player and this was pretty much a must-win game for us," Ponting said.

"It's important that we did stand up."

But Ponting admitted he was still adjusting to Twenty20 cricket.

"It does take a little bit of getting used to," he said.

"I haven't played one-day cricket for a while either so the shorter forms of the game are a little bit foreign to me at the moment."

Thunder captain Chris Rogers conceded his side's finals chances were all but gone.

"There's always a mathematical chance but at the moment it's hard to see," he said.

"We're just not playing well enough."

AAP

Tags: twenty20, cricket, sport, hobart-7000, tas, sydney-2000, nsw, australia

First posted December 23, 2012 20:06:46

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Clarke dreams of farewell hundred for Punter

Updated November 30, 2012 10:33:19

Michael Clarke says he would love nothing more than for Ricky Ponting to score a big hundred in the Perth Test to help Australia return to the summit of world cricket, where the former captain helped it stay for so long.

Clarke got emotional when discussing Ponting's immense contribution to the Australian cricket team at the media call, but was able to put it into words when speaking to Grandstand shortly afterwards.

"He's an amazing player. He was an amazing captain, is a great friend and it's going to be tough to go into a Test match without him being there," Clarke told Grandstand.

"What a player he's been. He's been a great ambassador for the sport - not just for Australia but around the world.

"I'd love nothing more than to win this Test match, get back to being number one and for Ricky to get a big hundred. What a way for him to go out."

Australia sat atop the Test rankings from their inception in 2003 - after unofficially holding the number one crown since beating the West Indies in 1995 - until losing the Ashes series to England in 2009.

The team can return to the top for the first time since with a series-sealing victory against South Africa in Perth.

Ponting and Clarke have played together in all but five of the current skipper's 85 Tests.

Ironically, Ponting missed Clarke's first three Tests due to a broken thumb, when Adam Gilchrist led Australia to its first victory in India for 35 years.

After that, Ponting has only missed the fifth Test against England in 2011 due to a broken finger and the second Test against Sri Lanka later that year due to the birth of his second child, Matisse.

The pair have put on 2322 runs in partnership together, at an average of 68.29, including five centuries.

They currently stand as the 11th highest scoring partnership for Australia and will move into the top ten above David Boon and Allan Border if they put on 76 together at the WACA.

Perhaps most memorably the pair spent the best part of a day together in the middle last summer when Ponting returned to form with 134 and Clarke recorded his best ever score of 329 not out.

Tags: sport, cricket, wa, australia

First posted November 29, 2012 16:57:21

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