Australia skipper Ponting admits South Africa were a better team
Australia skipper Ponting admits South Africa were a better team
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With South Africa claiming the one-day series following its convincing 61-run win at Port Elizabeth on Monday, Ricky Ponting conceded the Proteas had "outplayed us in every facet of the game" and thoroughly deserved the top ICC ODI ranking.
They have probably skipped a couple of points ahead of us now," Ponting said yesterday after the home side had taken a definitive 3-1 lead.
Full strength
"They have got a very good team. They are at their absolute full strength at the moment. We have been a fair bit off that."
At the same time Ponting regretted the absence of a number of key players such as Andrew Symonds, Shaun Marsh, Shane Watson, Stuart Clark, Brett Lee and Ben Hilfenhaus, who have all been unavailable against the South Africans for one reason or another.
All six are part of the squad for the one-day series against Pakistan, starting in Dubai on April 22, after Australia's final game against South Africa in Johannesburg on Friday.
"We've got what we've got and we've had what we've had with our bowlers in this series so far. What more can you do, you know?" the Australian captain asked.
"We have been stretched quite a bit in the last eight or 12 months with our bowling in both forms of the game, with Brett Lee not being around, and Stewie Clark not being around, Ben Hilfenhaus and Peter Sidle being rested from this (one-day) tour."
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