Cricket Australia v West IndiesRicky Ponting rescued Australia from an early batting collapse with a captain's century on the opening day of the first Test against West Indies yesterday.
Ponting produced a knock of 149 after Australia's new-look batting line-up had crumbled, guiding his team out of danger to a healthy 340 for seven by stumps.
Fast bowler Corey Collymore ripped through the middle order with four for 47. His fellow pacemen Daren Powell, Fidel Edwards and Jermaine Lawson captured one wicket each after Shivnarine Chanderpaul's surprising decision to field first on a pitch tailor-made for batting.
Australia vice-captain Adam Gilchrist made a typically brisk 44 during a 104-run partnership with Ponting while opener Matthew Hayden chipped in with a more cautious 37 in a 92-run stand with the skipper.
"We've probably got a decent first innings total already but hopefully we can start well tomorrow morning and push on towards 400."
Shane Warne (31) and Brett Lee (19) continued their recent form with the bat with an unbroken 46-run partnership in the last hour, but none of the other specialist batsmen made a meaningful contribution.
Opener Mike Hussey made one on his Test debut, Michael Clarke fell for five, Simon Katich went for a duck and all-rounder Shane Watson departed for 16, raising fresh concerns about the depth of Australia's batting after their Ashes loss to England.
"We just didn't get the really big partnership that we wanted," Ponting said.
"We lost a cluster of wickets in the middle, which is a bit of a worry, but hopefully those guys will get a chance to rectify that in the second innings."
Called into the side when Justin Langer ruled himself out with a broken rib, Hussey departed in the sixth over when he top-edged an attempted pull shot off Powell and wicketkeeper Denesh Ramdin safely held the catch.
Clarke was also caught behind, nicking a swift leg-cutter from Collymore, then Katich glanced a low catch to Chris Gayle at second slip. Australia had lost three for 10 in three overs after lunch to slump to 111 for four.
Collymore also captured the vital wickets of Hayden and Gilchrist when they were in full swing, both lbw, while Edwards trapped Watson lbw and Lawson ended Ponting's defiant innings when he flicked a catch straight to Ramnaresh Sarwan at mid-wicket.
"I'm happy with the way I bowled but this is a team game," said Collymore. "It's not a bad position that we're in but it could have been better. We really should have capitalised when we had them four down."
Ponting survived two dropped catches and a run-out attempt to register his 24th Test hundred and join Greg Chappell in fourth place on Australia's list of century-makers.
He reached triple figures off 131 balls with a square cut off Gayle that sped to the boundary rope.
"It was a strange innings for me. I felt like I started really well but I got worse as I went, which is a bit unusual in this game because it usually goes the other way," said Ponting.
"But whenever you make a hundred it's important, especially when wickets are falling around you, so I was pleased to get there because it's put the team in a good position."
First Test Scoreboard
FIRST TEST Australia v West Indies
(Brisbane)
West Indies Won Toss
Australia First Innings Close
M L Hayden lbw b Collymore ........37
M E K Hussey c Ramdin b D B Powell 1
R T Ponting c Sarwan b Lawson 149
M J Clarke c Ramdin b Collymore 5
S M Katich c Gayle b Collymore 0
A C Gilchrist lbw b Collymore 44
S R Watson lbw b Edwards 16
S K Warne not out 31
B Lee not out 19
Extras b4 lb11 w4 nb19 pens 0 38
Total 7 wkts (85 overs) 340
Fall: 1-9 2-101 3-108 4-111 5-215 6-273 7-294
To Bat: N W Bracken, G D McGrath.
Bowling: Edwards 17 0 77 1 D B Powell 14 0 65 1 Collymore 18 3 47 4 Lawson 12 0 58 1 Samuels 4 0 29 0 Gayle 20 3 49 0
