Can’t ask for anything more, says Australia skipper Ricky Ponting

Elated Australia captain Ricky Ponting said his side had been "unbelievable" after thrashing England by an innings and 80 runs to win the fourth Test yesterday and level the Ashes at 1-1.

Can't ask for anything more, says Australia skipper Ricky Ponting

Elated Australia captain Ricky Ponting said his side had been "unbelievable" after thrashing England by an innings and 80 runs to win the fourth Test yesterday and level the Ashes at 1-1.

Victory inside three days at Headingley saw Australia revive their bid to retain the Ashes in emphatic style and set-up a winner takes-all-clash at the Oval, where the fifth and final Test starts on August 20.

Australia were on top throughout, bowling England out for a meagre 102 on the first day, with recalled quick Stuart Clark taking three wickets for 18 runs and Peter Siddle taking a Test-best five for 21.

In reply they piled up 445, with Marcus North's 110 the centrepiece before bowling England out for 263 shortly after lunch on Sunday, with rejuvenated left-arm quick Mitchell Johnson, who had struggled in the first three Tests, taking a series best five wickets for 69 runs.

Ravi Bopara, Ian Bell and Paul Collingwood, England's numbers three, four and five respectively, managed just 16 runs between them in a side missing the injured Kevin Pietersen (Achilles), and Andrew Flintoff, the all-rounder ruled out on the morning of this Test with a knee problem that had troubled him throughout the series.

"I said right through the series if we could get early wickets and get the middle-order in there against the new ball, we could do some damage and we did it twice," Ponting told reporters after Australia won with more than two days to spare.

"You can't ask for anything more," Ponting, whose team were briefly detained Sunday by an eighth-wicket stand of 108 between Stuart Broad (61) and Graeme Swann (62), added.

"We couldn't have done anything much better. We had an unbelievable game."

Ponting hailed the first day display of Clark, which inspired the rest of the four-man attack after Australia decided to drop off-spinner Nathan Hauritz.

Clark set it up
"Stuart Clark has a real calm experienced head on his shoulders. We all know Stuart is capable and it gave us the opportunity for Siddle and Johnson to operate in short bursts."

Ponting is desperate not to become the first Australia captain in over a century to lose two Ashes series in England after being on the wrong end of a 2-1 loss four years ago.

"This is the chance I've been waiting for the whole tour. I said from start how much it would mean to me to win this one," Ponting said.

Little went right for England after taking the difficult decision to drop Flintoff and replace him Stephen Harmison, rather than a batsman in the uncapped Jonathan Trott, England suffered fresh disruption during the warm-up when wicket-keeper Matt Prior had a back spasm.

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