Ricky Ponting Reveals the Highlight of his Career

On this day in 1999, Australia won their second World Cup by defeating Pakistan in the finals at the Lord’s ground in London. This was a special victory as it came after losing in the finals of World Cup 1996 against Sri Lanka in Lahore. Via a Twitter post, Ricky Ponting recalls the fond memories of celebrating the victory with his teammates. 

The Australian cricket team won its second World Cup under the leadership of Steve Waugh. Though the Kangaroos had a troubled tournament as they lost the match against Pakistan in the group stage and had a tough time against South Africa. However, they made their way to the finals and then went on to become the World Champions. 

Remembering that iconic day, Ricky Ponting wrote on Twitter, “Can’t believe it’s been 21 years since the 99 World Cup final, the highlight of my career to that point. It finished with me on @TomMoodyCricket’s shoulders in the middle of Lord’s singing the team song, an amazing experience,”

Tom Moody’s reply to Ricky Ponting

Former Australian player Tom Moody shared the same sentiments as Ricky Ponting. It was the second time after 1987 that Moody was a part of the World Cup winning squad. He reacted on the tweet by Ponting saying, “Very special day Punter, I’m still recovering from that carry in the middle!! ???? #WorldCup”

An insight into the 1999 World Cup finals

Winning the finals against Pakistan in 1999 was a cakewalk for the Australian cricket team owing to the brilliant performance by Shane Warne. Shane was magnificent with the ball that day as he tore apart Pakistan’s batting line-up by taking 4 wickets. Tom Moody and Glenn McGrath also supported Warne by bagging two wickets each while Damien Fleming and Paul Reiffel took one scalp each. 

As a result, Wasim Akram’s side ended with just 132 runs in a 50 over match. The whole Pakistan team collapsed within 39 runs giving Australia an easy target to chase. While chasing the target Adam Gilchrist smashed a crucial 36-ball 54 runs, while Mark Waugh (37 not out) and Ricky Ponting (24) also made worthy contributions to help Australia chase down the target in 20.1 overs.