Ponting hails his batsmen, issues a warning to SA

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St George's, Grenada, Apr 21(UNI) An elated Australian skipper Ricky Ponting saluted his batsmen for their tremendous showing against New Zealand and issued a veiled warning to semi-final rivals South Africa to be prepared for a tough battle.

''At the moment we are very confident, we are playing some excellent cricket and we are going to take a lot of beating in that semi-final (against South Africa),'' Ponting remarked.

Talking to media persons after his team's record victory over the Kiwis in the last Super Eight league game, he said, ''Once again our batting was terrific. We had some great partnerships at the top of the innings which laid the foundation for the guys down the order to smack it about a bit.'' He lavished praise on Shane Watson who returned to the main eleven after a long lay off due to injury and played a swashbuckling innings saying: ''it was a great batting by Shane. His innings was simply great. To bat like this in his first game after a long break was tremendous. He looked good with ball as well. We are on track and going really well at the moment.'' Ponting picked up man of the match Matthew Hayden for special mention and said: ''He (Hayden) has got to be in the form of his career as far as the one-day version of the game goes and it's nice to have him back in the side.

''How hard he has worked to do that has been a treat for everyone to watch and he's dragging a few of us along with him. Hopefully, with two more games the big fella can keep churning out the runs.'' Hayden echoed his skipper's sentiments saying that he was happy to contribute to his team's success.

''It has been a great tournament thus far but we have got two more games to go and the first one is in St Lucia so it'll worth absolutely zero if we don't go all the way now,'' he said.

The in-form opener, whose blazing 100-ball 103 run knock destroyed New Zealand bowling, said, ''I've put in a lot of hard work and a lot of dedication. To be a part of this great team you need to work very hard. You can never take anything for granted.

When I was out of the side I certainly didn't do that, I was always looking for an opportunity and here I am today.

''I am very proud, not only of what I have been able to achieve but also all the people around me, the people back home who have actually allowed me get to where I am today.'' He urged the fans to flock in huge numbers to watch them play in the semi-finals at St Lucia.

''Come the semi-final and final I'm sure the Aussie supporters will be out here in droves and it's great to be playing cricket, whether it's Test cricket, one-day cricket or Twenty20 in front of huge crowds.'' Shane Watson, who also addressed the media said he was thrilled with his and team's showing.

''We just wanted to put in another good performance today and that's exactly what we did for the whole duration of the game. So we're stoked. Our game plan is to win as convincingly as possible and we're playing great cricket and having a lot of fun.

''I'm very happy to be able to come back and hit them like that and to be able to bowl like that as well. It's been a pretty hard three weeks but it's been a lot of fun to be a part of another victory in a World Cup. I can't wait (for the semi-final against South Africa).

''It's just so great to be a part of the team again and yes, we're really pumped for the semi-final,'' Watson said.

UNI