Pressure brings out the best in us: Ponting

Jaipur, Oct 20 (UNI) Aware that another loss here tomorrow could very well end their Champions Trophy dream, Australian skipper Ricky Ponting today exuded confidence that his team will bounce back hard and win the Group A match against England tomorrow to keep their hopes alive.

''Obviously, if you lose the first match in a tournament, it becomes difficult. But we've bounced back from the similar situation in the past. Be that VB series last year of the World Cup in 1999 -- we came back to lift the trophy,'' Ponting said at a press conference ahead of their Champions Trophy match against England here tomorrow.

''I see no reason why we cannot do that again. We tend to play our best cricket when we are under the pump,'' he asserted.

Playing for the first time since the Ashes series last year, arch rivals Australia and England face each other in a crucial must win game for both sides as they sit on the verge of virtual elimination from the tourney after losing their opening matches.

Ponting said Australia had learnt their lessons well from their 10-run defeat against the West Indies on October 17 and would get their basics right tomotrrow.

''We will try to make it as simple as possible and stick to the basics. We didn't bat well the other night and were poor in the field -- I myself dropped a catch. Hopefully we won't repeat the mistakes tomorrow and I expect our decision-making to be better than the other night,'' the Australian skipper said.

Ponting particularly came down hard on his bastmen and said it was time they should match the efforts put in by the bowlers.

''The bowlers have done a pretty good job of late. It is the batting that has been bit of a let down. It's time for the batters to start putting up some good total on the board.'' On the match being touted as a prelude to the Ashes beginning next month, Ponting said, ''No. A lot has been made out of that.

This match is different and we still have over a month before the Ashes, he said, adding ''All I can say at the moment is that tomorrow we are going to have a big and exciting match and I'm focussing on it right now.'' Ponting pointed out that England had not performed well in the one-dayers recently but conceded that the rivals might have an advantage tomorrow having played on the surface against India on Sunday.

''Their one-day form hasn't been good of late. The reason may be that they haven't played much. But anything can happen on a given day. England have been here in Jaipur for long and seemded to better acquainted with the surface,'' he said.

When asked whether his team would target Andrew Flintoff, the Aussie said there were no such plans against an individual but could not resist pointing out that getting the rival skipper early could be a morale booster.

''It is nothing like singling out one player. But they (England) have reshuffled their batting order slightly with Freddie coming up the order,'' he said.

''Obviously, they want him to bat for long. But the guy has batted mostly in the lower middle order. He might not be comfortable facing the new ball. If we can have a crack at Andrew early, we might have an advantage,'' he added.

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