Ricky Ponting's 257 vs India ranked 2nd amongst best Test innings in Australia since 2000

Former Australian cricket captain Ricky Ponting makes a cut into an exclusive Top 20 club made by cricket.com.au. To commemorate the start of a new decade, the website is chronicling the top 20 batting efforts witnessed ‘Down Under’ from 2000 till 2020. After Ricky Ponting’s match-winning twin centuries against South Africa in the 2006 Sydney Test found a place at No.20, his punishing 257 against India at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) in 2003 has been placed at No.2 in the selected club of batting brilliance.

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When Ricky Ponting’s 257 floored the Indian bowling attack in 2003

A Sourav Ganguly-led Indian team toured Australia in 2003-04 for a four-match Border-Gavaskar Test series. While the first Test ended in a draw, the title-holders took a 1-0 lead by winning the second Test on the back of Rahul Dravid’s 233 and 72* at the Adelaide Oval. The two teams then travelled to the MCG for a Boxing Day third Test with hosts desperately needing a win to bring the series back to levelling terms.

Prior to the match, Sourav Ganguly won the toss and opted to bat first. Dashing opening batsman Virender Sehwag scored a blitzkrieg 195 to turbo-charge India’s first-innings total to 366. In response, Ricky Ponting came out to the middle with Australia at 30-1 and shared a 234-run alliance with Matthew Hayden where the two cricketers battered and bruised the Indian bowling attack. While Hayden was sent back after an attacking 136, Ricky Ponting went on with his usual dictating terms to plunder a career-best 257.

An innings jam-packed with determination and brutal strokeplay, Ponting’s 257 was fuelled with 25 blazing boundaries as he flayed the Indian attack for almost 10 hours at the crease. His 458-ball MCG statement was backed up with another 31* in the second innings as he found himself at the hub of Australia’s successful run-chase. Moreover, prior to his epic MCG double, the cricketer also came up clutch with 242 against the same opposition (albeit in a losing cause) in the previous match.

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Ricky Ponting flays Sourav Ganguly and co. with 257, watch video

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Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2003/04: Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag and Rahul Dravid

Interestingly, Virender Sehwag’s 195-run hurricane in the same match also made a cut into the top 20 list (at No.19). While in the final Test of the tour, Indian batting icon Sachin Tendulkar scythed through the Australian attack with his then highest Test score of 241* at the Sydney Cricket Ground. In the second Test at the Adelaide Oval, Rahul Dravid’s match-winning effort was ranked as third best Test knock played on Australian soil since 2000. While Tendulkar’s Sydney masterclass was placed at No.6. As many as four centuries from the 2003/04 Border-Gavaskar series alone have made their way into the exclusive list so far.

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