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Nottingham: Ricky Ponting believes Australia are coming into form at the right time ahead of their Champions Trophy defence after his superb century saw them go 5-0 up with two to play against England.
Ponting's commanding 126 at Trent Bridge on Tuesday helped Australia chase down a target of 300 as they finished on 302 for six 6 with 10 balls to spare in a four-wicket ODI win.
It was only the 34-year-old's second match back since taking a break following Australia's Ashes series defeat last month and afterwards Ponting was delighted by the way the world champions had refused to let up after making sure of a series win with a seven-wicket success at Lord's on Saturday.
"We're playing some good cricket at the moment," he told reporters after sharing a third-wicket stand of 133 with vice-captain Michael Clarke.
"I think we can improve on today with the ball and in the field. The batting was pretty good," Ponting added ahead of the Champions Trophy, which starts next week in South Africa with Australia's first match against the West Indies in Johannesburg on September 26.
"I stressed to the guys yesterday (Monday) morning about the importance of these remaining three games with the Champions Trophy just around the corner, and with the application and the way we went about it today (Tuesday) shows that the guys are up to finishing this series well.
"That's a good sign for us. Hopefully we can play well on Thursday and on Sunday and head to South Africa with a bit of confidence."
When Ponting was out, Australia still needed 39 off 36 balls but the impressive Cameron White and Mitchell Johnson, who finished the match with a six, saw them home.
"It's good for those young guys to know when you're confronted with a big total to chase like that, you just get out there and do it," Ponting said.
"It's never easy chasing big totals like that in One-day cricket. You need to do a lot of things well in your batting to get those runs and I thought we did that.
"For the Fergusons and the White to see the way we went about it and learn some things should hold those guys in good stead."
England's batting had been their downfall in the four previous matches but here they made 299, featuring a maiden fifty for his adopted country by former Ireland batsman Eoin Morgan - and still lost.
"It is deflating when you're 5-0 down in a seven-match series," said England captain Andrew Strauss.
"I'm not feeling all that sprightly if I'm honest," added the opener, who took some comfort from Middlesex colleague Morgan's 58 off 41 balls.
"I thought our batsmen went out with a much more bold approach. Eoin Morgan in particular kind of embodied that. I thought he played exceptionally well, kind of the way he's played for Middlesex in the past."
But on Tuesday it was England's ground fielding which was below standard, several misfields aiding Australia's run chase.
"The fielding was poor," said Strauss. "That's something for which there should be no excuse.
"Some of the bowling could have been better but Ponting and Clarke played particularly well and got Australia in a position to win. Then at the back end we weren't able to apply as much pressure as we'd like because our fielding let us down.
"It was a far better performance but in tight games you don't want to let yourself down in the more elementary areas."
