Ponting leads Australia to the title
His belligerent innings left India hapless in the 2003 final
He may have lost the toss, but by the time Ponting walked out to the middle on World Cup final day, Australia had the perfect start. Adam Gilchrist had bludgeoned his way to 57 from 48 balls, adding 105 in just 14 overs with Matthew Hayden. In such a scenario, Ponting could afford to play himself in, and he duly did so with Damien Martyn for company after Hayden gave Harbhajan Singh a second wicket.
It was Martyn who set the tone for the partnership, with some gorgeous strokes through the covers on his way to 50 from just 46 balls. Ponting, by contrast, needed 74 balls for his half-century, hitting just one four along the way. But seeing 50 next to his name appeared to trigger something, and what followed can only be described as carnage.
Harbhajan was taken for two sixes over midwicket, and there was an outrageous one-handed swipe off Ashish Nehra that sailed over the square-leg fence. India's bowling plan was ripped to pieces. The century partnership had taken the two 109 balls, but only 64 were needed for the next 100 as the run rate soared. Ponting took just 29 deliveries to get from 50 to 100, finishing with 140 from 121 balls. He thumped eight sixes, all in the arc between long-on and square leg, and his acceleration deflected attention from Martyn's gem - an 84-ball 88 made with a broken finger.
All but 24 of Ponting's runs came on the leg side, illustrating just how wayward India's bowlers were in both line and length. You couldn't be too harsh, though. On the biggest day of all, they had run into a once-in-a-generation batter at the peak of his powers. At a venue that the punters call the Bullring, they were well and truly gored.