After 17 runs in three innings, there were suggestions that captaincy was taking its toll on Ricky Ponting's batting. Today he made a nonsense of that with an outstanding innings that was typical Ponting. He made over 60% (81 out of 129) of his run on the leg side, with a series of trademark drives, clips and pulls. Ponting cracked 25 runs square on the leg side, and another 26 in the arc between midwicket and long on.

Ponting was especially harsh on Shaun Pollock, lashing him for 19 runs off nine balls. That's a rate of 12.67 an over, not one that Pollock is used to going for.

As well as being Ponting's first hundred as Australian captain, it completed a set of one-day centuries against every Test-playing nation bar Bangladesh.

Rob Smyth is on the staff of Wisden.com.

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