One of Ponting's highs
Aussies take winning lead against SA
Australia captain Ricky Ponting said Tuesday that clinching a series win in South Africa here on Tuesday was one of the highlights of his career.
Australia won the second Test by 175 runs at Kingsmead to take an unbeatable 2-0 lead in the three-match series, bouncing straight back from losing at home against the same opponents in Australia earlier in the season.
"It's very satisfying with this group of players that we've been able to play at this same level over the last couple of weeks," said Ponting.
"We've played some amazing cricket, probably a level of cricket that everybody outside our dressing room thought we weren't capable of. This is almost as happy as I have been in my career as an Australian player."
Ponting said the team's week of preparation in the small town of Potchefstroom had been a key to their success.
He revealed he had always been confident that the team could win in South Africa despite the inexperience of many of the players.
"I absolutely felt we could win here and I made that very clear to a number of people in Australia," he said.
"We've got a very proud record against these guys over a long period of time and probably more so in the conditions here in South Africa.
"I just felt that with the good players we had here and the conditions we would have in Johannesburg and Durban that we could adapt and play some really good cricket."
Ponting said the series in Australia had been closer than the results indicated.
"We dominated certain parts of the first two Test matches without winning them. What we've done here is we've dominated the games but not let them back into them. We've played our best cricket for longer periods of time."
The series win ensured that Australia would retain the official world championship and earn 175 000 dollars in prize money and the International Cricket Council championship mace at the cut-off date of April 1.
But Ponting said the championship itself had not been a motivating factor.
"I haven't mentioned the trophy once around this group of players because it's not the reason why we play," he added.
"We play to win games of cricket for Australia and to do the best we can for each other as a group of players.
"Having said that, it is satisfying that the trophy will be staying in Australia."
South African skipper Graeme Smith said: It's been a very disappointing series especially after what we have achieved over the last 12 or 16 months. We just haven't been able to maintain the intensity and level of play we've got used to.
"Ricky and his team played very good, disciplined cricket and kept us under pressure for long periods of time which we haven't been able to sustain.
Smith admitted that his team's performance had been disappointing.
"They created pressure and have been sharper and more intense than us," he said.
"In particular they have bowled really well as a unit. They have created and sustained pressure on our batters.
"We haven't won a toss, we've bowled first throughout the series and we haven't started with that same level of intensity that we've had over the past 16 months and particularly in Australia to create that pressure."
South Africa were bowled out for 370 in their second innings with 37.4 overs to spare on the final day.
The victory was virtually sealed when the tourists dismissed overnight batsmen Jacques Kallis and AB de Villiers inside the first hour.
South Africa lost another two wickets before lunch. Although Mark Boucher and Morne Morkel resisted for 79 minutes after the break, the end came quickly after Boucher gave a return catch to part-time spinner Marcus North.
Kallis and De Villiers made their third wicket stand worth 187 before Kallis was caught at second slip off Mitchell Johnson in the sixth over of the day for 93.
Kallis added just five runs after being dropped by Michael Clarke at point off Ben Hilfenhaus in the previous over.
Three overs later De Villiers was caught behind in Peter Siddle's first over of the day for 84.
With no chance of chasing down a target of 546, Duminy and Boucher resisted for an hour until Duminy was caught behind for 17, gloving a vicious lifter from Hilfenhaus.
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