Ricky Ponting scored 17 in the first innings and 20 not out in the second, as a storm prevented an Australian victory. After winning the toss and electing to bat in the First Test in Kingston, Jamaica, Ponting recorded his 35th Test century and was eventually dismissed for 158 from 224 balls. Despite forcing their way back into contention, the West Indies were defeated by 95 runs. In the Second Test, Ponting became the seventh player and third Australian to score 10,000 Test runs. It took Ponting 118 Tests and 196 innings to achieve the feat, one slower than Tendulkar and Lara.
Ricky Ponting being dropped. Ponting scored 119 runs at 39.66 in the three-Test home series against New Zealand in 1997–98, including a breezy 73 not out from 85 balls in the second innings of the First Test in Brisbane to help Australia set a winning target. He then made his first Test century on Australian soil, scoring 105 in the First Test against South Africa at the MCG. He added a fifty in the next match and ended the series with 248 runs at 49.60. Ponting has his most successful ODI season to date, scoring 462 runs at 57.75 in the annual