Ponting celebrates captaincy with unbeaten 93

Ricky Ponting celebrated his promotion to the Australian one-day captaincy with an unbeaten 93 in the three-day tour match against South Africa A on Sunday.

Australia raced to 218 for three on the opening day before bad light forced tea to be taken five minutes early, and rain prevented any further play.

Ponting was at the crease for 170 minutes, facing 129 balls and hitting 19 fours.

Steve Waugh, the man Ponting has replaced as captain of the one-day side, was unbeaten on 18 at the close.

Ponting attacked the bowling after replacing Matthew Hayden at the crease, smashing fast bowler Charl Langeveldt for three fours in one over.

When Justin Langer was bowled by Andrew Hall for 12, Australia were 52 for two.

Mark Waugh, who is under increasing pressure to hold both his test and one-day places, began his innings in uncertain fashion.

He took 26 minutes to score his first runs with a mis-timed back foot drive down the ground for three.

But he gracefully cut left-arm spinner Claude Henderson behind point for a boundary soon afterwards and, with his confidence rising, he played a series of sublime drives and cuts.

The younger Waugh twin wasted a century chance, though, when he played a lazy shot, cutting a delivery from Henderson to Ashwell Prince at backward point for 62 to end a 125-run partnership in just over two hours.

Ponting continued to attack, pulling and cutting anything short, driving any full-length deliveries and sensibly using his feet to the spinners.

He was in complete command for most of his innings after surviving a confident caught behind appeal on 27.

Steve Waugh also began in enterprising fashion, smashing successive deliveries from Hall through point.

Earlier, Hayden was leg before wicket to Hall for 18 when a delivery darted back into the left-hander.

In Hall's next over, Langer attempted an ambitious pull, but the ball stayed low and he dragged it into his stumps.

Medium-pacer Hall finished with two wickets for 68 runs off 17 overs.

Mail Cricket Editor