JOIN USNot too long ago in Ahmedabad, Ponting was severely reprimanded by match referee Ranjan Madugalle for damaging the television set -- though unintentionally -- after getting run-out against Zimbabwe. On Wednesday here at the Chinnaswamy stadium, Ponting called for the catch of Harvir Baidwan of Canada but his team-mate Steven Smith too went for it, nearly colliding with his skipper. Ponting somehow managed to hold on to the offer, but he wasn’t amused at all with Smith’s move. The 36-year-old made his frustration clear by slamming the ball down.
“If it looked bad, then I apologise for it,” said Ponting in his post-match comments even as he tried to make light of the incident. “It was more about copping a hip and shoulder from a 19-year-old trying to pinch a catch off me. I had a chat with Smithy about it and I think we both actually called for it at the same time which is why there was confusion. If anything, I was probably a bit more disappointed that a few of the other guys didn’t yell out and made it clear that it was my catch. It wasn’t a great reaction but it wasn’t designed to inspire the team or make Steven look silly. It just happened in the heat of the battle on the ground,” he explained.
Shane Watson was adjudged the man of the match for his 94 to go with the wicket of Hiral Patel. “Today things went my way,” said Watson whose record in ICC events has been excellent. “I don’t exactly know the reason why (I do well in ICC tourneys), but it’s nice to come up with such performances. But it’s against the big countries that you look to do well and hopefully I will do so against Pakistan in our next game.”
Canada skipper Ashish Bagai said he was disappointed with the finish, considering the kind of start they got. “Yeah it was very disappointing. We won the toss and got a good build up ...We were going pretty well at 150 for two when we lost our way. That showed the lack experience amongst us,” he pointed out.