Captain Ricky Ponting says his side must improve on their first-up win over the West Indies if they’re to push deeper into the Champions Trophy tournament.
The Australians had to work hard with bat and ball to win their opening pool game by 50 runs at the Wanderers on Saturday despite the West Indies missing their stars because of a contract dispute.
Australia were sent in on a lively, inconsistent pitch and were 7-171 in the 40th over until Mitchell Johnson’s unbeaten 73 from 47 balls took the total to a comfortable 8-275.
Johnson also turned the match in the field, his run-out of Andre Fletcher (54) breaking a partnership of 86 runs with Travis Dowlin (55) and slowing the chase.
The West Indies were all out for 225 after Shane Watson and Nathan Hauritz mopped up the innings.
Ponting said Australia’s batsmen found the pitch hard work until it settled in the afternoon sun and he was pleased with the crucial 70-run stand between Johnson and Brett Lee (25).
“As usual I lost the toss again and we ended up batting on a pretty difficult wicket, so to get that sort of total I thought the batsmen did a really good job,” he said.
“Mitch finished things off really well for us. Those runs at the end were pretty vital in the game.”
Australia’s pacemen were expensive early with the ball, but Ponting said the attack performed well to finish off the game.
“We did a really good job at the end closing out some of the final overs, which has been a bit of an Achilles heel for us over the years, so to see that done well today was pleasing,” he said.
“I think we all know we need to play better than we did today against India (on Monday at Centurion).
The day-night clash against India and a day game against Pakistan, on Wednesday at Centurion, will decide which sides from the pool go through to the semi-finals.
Australia expect vice-captain Michael Clarke to return on Monday after missing Saturday’s game because of back stiffness.
Despite missing their stars the West Indies were far from embarrassed and captain Floyd Reifer said his players could hold their heads high despite losing their first two games.
“First game we played (against Pakistan last Wednesday) we didn’t get enough runs, but the guys came back and bowled well,” he said.
“Today we had Australia 170-odd for seven in 40 overs, but the game was taken away from us in the last 10 overs because Mitchell Johnson played well.
“Chasing 275, at 2-124 we had a good chance, but we just needed one of our batters to carry on and get a big score.
“And we were batting a batsman short, which was unfortunate.”
Top-order batsman Dale Richards could not bat after he dislocated a shoulder diving in the field.
Johnson, the man of the match, was happy to play a major part with the bat and in the field.
“I enjoyed the run out, that’s for sure,” he said.
“It’s always good to hit the stumps, Ricky gets pretty excited when he hits them.
“But I think the batting was definitely the one for me.”
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