Ricky Ponting is one of the greatest batters to have ever played the game of cricket and certainly in the top 3 in Australian cricket history. He came in the 1990a in the era of Sachin Tendulkar and Brian Lara and it was not easy to make yourself stand out but not only did he stand out but was neck to neck with the other greats of that time.
Ricky Ponting had played a number of incredible innings throughout his career which can easily feature in the top 5 of anyone’s list so it is to inform everyone that this is our list and you may not agree with it and that’s great.
So, let’s see the top 5 Best innings of Ricky Ponting:
197 vs Pakistan in Perth (1999)
This innings sounded like the arrival of a young Ricky Ponting in the cricket World with a bang and he played this amazing innings against the best bowling attack fr Pakistan and while he was batting at number 6 in that match. From the outset he was in a very attacking and aggressive mood in that innings as he smashed all the great bowlers from Pakistan and made his century quickly but he didn’t stop there as he knew he had to make a Massive impact and he carried on and made a scintillating 197 but was unlucky to be dismissed just 3 runs before his double hundred.
140* vs India in Johannesburg (2003)
If anyone were to ask an Indian fan which are the few innings that gives them the most sadness and feeling of hurt by an opposition batter then this innings by Ricky Ponting in the final of the 2003 world cup would be near the top of the list. It cannot be denied that this innings was one of the very best one can ever see. He single handedly won Australia that world cup and ended the dreams of the Indian team and all its fans on that fateful day in Johannesburg. He hit 8 massive sixes and helped Australia post a monster score of 359 runs and India lost that match easily. It was truly one of the great ODI innings.
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257 vs India in MCG (2003)
Ricky Ponting loved scoring runs against India and big runs at that. This is one of the best innings in the life of Ricky Ponting and his highest test score as well as he decimated the great Indian attack which was there in 2003. The stats of this innings are ridiculous, he batted for 590 minutes and played 480 deliveries and hit 25 fours and even his opponents were full of respect of the greatness before them. If superhuman was a term then this was the prime example of it.
196 vs England in Brisbane (2006)
It was the Ashes again and Australia were under immense pressure from the fans as well as former cricketers as they lost the urn to England in 2005. However, it is said that in adversity, greats rise and Ricky Ponting did exactly that ,he soaked in all the pressure and at Brisbane he destroyed the English bowling attack with poise and skill and ended with an incredible innings of 196 runs and this innings propelled Australia to hand a 5-0 whitewash to England in that series.
164 vs South Africa in Johannesburg (2006)
The best one day innings in the career of Ricky Ponting came in a match that is considered the greatest ODI match of all time and one which Australia lost in the most extraordinary fashion but that doesn’t diminish the greatness of this innings by Ricky. He smacked the South Africa bowlers in the ground and outside of it as well by hitting 13 hours and 9 sixes in his innings and he only needed 105 balls to do this and even though he lost, this is one of his very best knocks in cricket.
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