'Now I know my role a bit better' - Cameron White

Ricky Ponting has praised the growing maturity of Cameron White after his match-winning century secured Australia a 1-0 lead in the five-match series against Pakistan. White, 26, varied the pace of his innings cleverly and finished with 105 off 88 balls after accelerating with three consecutive sixes off Shahid Afridi to set up the total of 5 for 275.

"He does see the game really well," Ponting said. "Even the way the partnership between him and Michael Clarke developed, holding back the Powerplay the way they did and knowing the right time to put the foot down, really stood out."

Australia were in a tricky situation at 3 for 84 when White arrived to meet Clarke and the pair put on 102 to recover the position. It was an important display for White as his previous best performances had come in England and India, at times when many supporters were sleeping or more concerned about football results than cricket. This innings was shown in prime time and spectators saw brutal power mixed with some subtler touches.

Since the England trip White has developed into a fixture of the top six, but this was his first score of more than 45 on home soil. "I thought about that coming into this series so it's pleasing to be able to show the people and team-mates that I can do it in Australia," he said. "I'm happy we won and I contributed well to the team. It was a good feeling and I enjoyed it."

Until the past year White's status has been confused, with him being preferred as a spin bowler in some series and a batter in others. This summer he is there to score runs.

"Now I know my role a bit better," he said. "I had it set in my mind that I was going to be nice and positive through this series because in the past in Australia I probably wasn't as positive as I would have liked to have been. There were a couple of things I wanted to do this series and probably tonight, with the situation of the game, I had to play like that anyway."

Salman Butt top scored with 72 in Pakistan's 274 on the quickest and bounciest pitch they have faced on the tour. "It was a good fighting score and if we bowled well we could have won this game," he said. "I think the batters did well, 275 is a good score anywhere, I think we did a pretty good job on this pitch."

Ponting was pleased with his team's quick transition from the Test to one-day arena and his side will build on the performance in the second ODI in Sydney on Sunday. "It was a very good win," he said. "It was made to look reasonably comfortable because of the couple of partnerships through the middle and how well Cameron played."