Ponting disappointed with Oz performance

Sydney, Mar 2 (UNI) A disappointed Australia captain Ricky Ponting admitted that India outplayed his team in all departments in first match of the best-of-three CB Series finals here today.

''I thought we were a bit off the pace down there in Melbourne,'' Ponting said. ''I thought that was because we were excited and looking ahead to this game. I let them know you can't switch things on and off.'' Ponting said his team prided themselves on their big match temparament and their below-par effort added to his disappointment.

''The bottom line was we didn't get enough runs, we didn't bowl well enough or field well enough,'' he said. ''India out-played us in most areas, so well done to them.'' Looking ahead to the do-or-die encounter in Brisbane on Tuesday, the 33-year-old said,''All of us have to go away and think about areas we can improve. So I'd expect a better performance on Tuesday.

''We're going to have to lift ourselves even more than we did for this game. That's our big challenge. We've got a short turnaround and whichever team is switched on the most will come out the winner.'' UNI XC AB DB2047