Australia captain Ricky Ponting said his team needs to raise its game after opening its bid for a fourth straight Cricket World Cup title with a 91-run victory over Zimbabwe.
Opener Shane Watson hit 79 runs from 92 balls as top-ranked Australia reached 262-6 off 50 overs in yesterday’s Group A match in Ahmedabad, India. Fast bowler Mitchell Johnson’s 4-19 helped Australia restrict Zimbabwe to 171 all out in reply.
The victory extended Australia’s winning streak at cricket’s four-yearly championship to 24 matches, stretching back to June 1999, when it tied with South Africa. Its last defeat came at the same edition against Pakistan.
“As the tournament goes on, we’re going to need to be on top of our games and we’re probably not quite there just yet,” Ponting told reporters. “The more we play and the more we become accustomed to these conditions then the better we’ll be.”
Australia next faces New Zealand on Feb. 25 in Nagpur. England begins its campaign for a first World Cup title today against the Netherlands in a Group B game in the same city.
Ponting, who’d not played a competitive match since breaking his finger in the third Ashes Test against England on Dec. 18, returned to play his record 40th World Cup game, one more than former teammate Glenn McGrath. He hit 28 before being run out by Chris Mpofu’s long throw.
His dismissal followed that of man-of-the-match Watson, who was given out leg-before-wicket to a Graeme Cremer delivery following a referral to the third umpire. Vice-captain Michael Clarke’s unbeaten 58 from 55 balls ensured Australia didn’t lose momentum as it added 55 runs off the last 5 overs.
‘Good Signs’
Zimbabwe sputtered in its reply as Johnson and fellow paceman Shaun Tait claimed six wickets between them. Spinner Jason Krejza also took two wickets. Cremer top scored for Zimbabwe with 37.
“There wasn’t much in it for the quicks,” Ponting said at the presentation ceremony. “Johnson was outstanding. Tait’s just working up to a bit of match fitness so to get eight or nine overs out of him was a real bonus. Krejza looked very good so there’s some good signs there for us.”
New Zealand and Sri Lanka opened Group A play two days ago with victories over Kenya and Canada. The top four from each of the seven-team groups advance to the quarterfinals after a round-robin competition.
Opener Shane Watson hit 79 runs from 92 balls as top-ranked Australia reached 262-6 off 50 overs in yesterday’s Group A match in Ahmedabad, India. Fast bowler Mitchell Johnson’s 4-19 helped Australia restrict Zimbabwe to 171 all out in reply.
The victory extended Australia’s winning streak at cricket’s four-yearly championship to 24 matches, stretching back to June 1999, when it tied with South Africa. Its last defeat came at the same edition against Pakistan.
Australia next faces New Zealand on Feb. 25 in Nagpur. England begins its campaign for a first World Cup title today against the Netherlands in a Group B game in the same city.
Ponting, who’d not played a competitive match since breaking his finger in the third Ashes Test against England on Dec. 18, returned to play his record 40th World Cup game, one more than former teammate Glenn McGrath. He hit 28 before being run out by Chris Mpofu’s long throw.
His dismissal followed that of man-of-the-match Watson, who was given out leg-before-wicket to a Graeme Cremer delivery following a referral to the third umpire. Vice-captain Michael Clarke’s unbeaten 58 from 55 balls ensured Australia didn’t lose momentum as it added 55 runs off the last 5 overs.
‘Good Signs’
Zimbabwe sputtered in its reply as Johnson and fellow paceman Shaun Tait claimed six wickets between them. Spinner Jason Krejza also took two wickets. Cremer top scored for Zimbabwe with 37.
“There wasn’t much in it for the quicks,” Ponting said at the presentation ceremony. “Johnson was outstanding. Tait’s just working up to a bit of match fitness so to get eight or nine overs out of him was a real bonus. Krejza looked very good so there’s some good signs there for us.”
New Zealand and Sri Lanka opened Group A play two days ago with victories over Kenya and Canada. The top four from each of the seven-team groups advance to the quarterfinals after a round-robin competition.
