Aussie skipper Ricky Ponting may have been deprived of most of his team mates in the ongoing series, but the 24-run win in Mohali seems to give him the much-needed impetus. The Australians came out with a spirited performance to level the series and Ponting praised the senior players in his team.

"It is good to see senior players performing. Shane (Watson), Hussey and White played well with the bat and they scored runs when it mattered the most. Trailing 2-1, it is tough to come back into the series and we are happy that we have tied the scores 2-2. It is always disappointing to lose some of the top players but I am happy about the senior guys taking responsibility. We are looking to a similar performance in Hyderabad," Ponting said after the match.

Ponting's thoughts of saving the match after posting 249 looked on track before Praveen Kumar and Harbhajan Singh threatened to run away with a 27-run seventh-wicket partnership in 21 balls, but Shane Watson removed the last three batsmen to end Indian hopes.

"Shane has been bowling well in the death overs. Harbhajan and Praveen tried to take the game away but we managed our resources well. We bowled according to our plan on this wicket and our bowlers read the wicket well," said Ponting.

Doug Bollinger claimed three vital wickets at the start, removing Virender Sehwag with a half volley delivery before sending back Virat Kohli and Sachin Tendulkar, and the young bowler sounded confident of continuing the good work. "It is good to come back into the series. The game was close and we were hopeful of defending the target. Watson and Hauritz bowled well and it was a fine-tuned performance by us. I bowled according to my plan and Sehwag's wicket set things up for me in the innings," Bollinger said.