India seal semis spot even as Ponting bows out with his head held high

It is the lot of the cricket reporter's life, especially when there is a big tournament on, to go through days, weeks even, celebrating the mediocre. Someone gets runs against ordinary bowling, and you overdose on the superlatives - it is the World Cup, after all.

And then - very rarely, but just often enough to wake us all up - a champion comes along and shows you what this game is really all about. And what it is not.

Irrespective of the outcome of the game, Ricky Ponting's century at the Motera is one for the ages - the kind of knock 'motivational speakers' will want to draw on.

What Australia's batting has lacked through this tournament is the towering tentpole that can hold its edifice up. Once Shane Watson and Brad Haddin are done doing their thing, the rest of the innings has been about the odd cameo, the occasional bravura performance - it wouldn't be unfair to say the porous Australian middle order has begun at number three.

Today, with Watson gone aiming a wild slog sweep at Ashwin to try and break his bonds, Australia needed its best, most experienced batsman to stand up and be counted. And just to up the ante, some joker leaked the news that CricketAustralia had already decided to sack Ponting from the captaincy.

What resulted was a display of grit; an innings as diametrically opposed to, but as valuable, as the century Ponting hit in the 2003 WC final against India. That one was scintillating, arrogant; this was hard manual labor by a batsman fighting, simultaneously, the demons in his mind, the surprises of a wicket baked dusty, a bowling that for once was in no mood to give much away, and a fielding side that, for once, showed some awareness of the value of saving the single.

Through this innings, Ponting was a rock - and the Indian bowlers and other Australian batsmen flowed and eddied around him. He was never entirely comfortable - but equally, barring a brief period at the start of his innings, there was never a time when he was vulnerable. That was when he squared up to Harbhajan Singh, who has had the wood on the Australian skipper since the time they first squared up.

The wicket had turn and just the hint of uncertain bounce; there were fielders close in, and it was set up to be a contest - till Harbhajan backed off. Ponting's problems against off spinners has largely had to do with how he leads with his bat, early in his innings; once Bhajjiwent around the wicket, the risks were reduced, and Ponting found he could close the bat face down, and just working the spinner away with minimal risk.