Three-time champions Australia sounded an ominous warning to their World Cup
rivals thumping minnows Scotland by a record 203-run margin in the Group
'A' encounter here on Wednesday.
The Aussies, smarting under a five-match losing streak and
dethroned as world's number one one-day side, posted an imposing 334 for six
which centred on a majestic century by captain Ricky Ponting.
The Scots simply crumbled under the weight of the mammoth target and they never
recovered after losing their top five batsmen for 42 runs within 16 overs.
They were eventually all out for 131 in 40.1 overs.
The margin of victory was the second biggest in World Cup history.
The absence of key players Andrew Symonds and Brett
Lee was hardly felt by Australia as Ponting played a vintage knock.
The 32-year-old struck a 93-ball 113 to become only the fourth batsman to score
four hundreds in the quadrennial event.
Glenn McGrath, seeking to surpass Wasim Akram's record
tally of 55 scalps, then claimed 3-14.
For Scotland, wicketkeeper-batsman Colin Smith was the
Rock of Gibraltar with a defiant 51.
It was Smith's maiden ODI half-century and contained
seven boundaries.
Ponting simply bludgeoned the Scottish bowling.
The 32-year old Tasmanian hammered nine fours and five sixes on the way to
his 23rd career one-day hundred.
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