Pup punt pays off

Michael Clarke badgered skipper Ricky Ponting to give him a bowl before capturing three wickets in five balls in the penultimate over to lead Australia to their record-equalling 16th consecutive Test win here Sunday.
The part-time off-spinner was flung the ball in the final overs and came up trumps to squeak the Australians home in one of Test cricket's most exciting finishes.
Clarke had a poor match with the bat, scoring one and a duck, but he will be remembered for his two overs which sealed a dramatic win for Australia in the second Test against India at the Sydney Cricket Ground.
"I had been asking Punter (Ponting) for a bowl all day and he finally gave me the ball and obviously again, a lot of luck but I am certainly taking it," Clarke said moments after his match-winning performance.
Clarke thought Australia had missed their chance before his intervention.
"Honestly, not a chance in hell and I think that is why Punter threw me the ball.
"There was obviously enough rough (footmarks) there and I thought India did really well to fight out and last as long as they did," he added.
"I think that is the one thing that I have learnt about cricket is how quickly things can change whether for the better or for the worse and I think today is a perfect example.
"I have made no runs and dropped a catch. I fortunately held onto a couple (of catches) and got some wickets at the end.
"When your opportunity comes, you just have to make the most of it."
Ponting, who described the 122-run victory as one of his most satisfying in Test cricket, said he was tossing the ball among his bowlers in a bid to find the wickets to claim victory.
"The last 30 or 40 minutes of the day's play was about gambling, about rolling the dice," Ponting said.
"I tried most guys there in that last hour and a half. I had to do that at that time just to see who the batsmen would find the hardest to play at that time.
"It looked like the faster bowlers were easier to play than the spinners.
"He (Clarke) actually said to me when I gave him the ball, 'I think I've got about just enough time to win us the game here.' He's always had a fair bit of confidence in himself."
Ponting said his team will now head to Perth for the January 16-20 third Test confident of winning the four-match series.
"Any Test match that you win is very hard work. When it comes down to the last 10 minutes of a Test match and you win it, that makes it extra special. There was no motivational talk about winning 16 straight Test matches.
"We go to Perth on a wicket and conditions that should suit us a lot more than the Indians. After two great wins like we've had we can obviously go to Perth pretty confident."