1. 140 not out v India in Johannesburg, World Cup final
23 March 2003
In decades to come, this is undoubtedly the one-day innings that Ponting will be remembered for, a beautifully-paced knock which brought Australia their second successive World Cup. Although he started slowly in taking 74 balls for his first 50, his next 47 deliveries brought 90 runs and included eight sixes. Yet it was the style and brutality of some of those strikes which put an exclamation mark on Australia's dominance - one six off Ashish Nehra was achieved with one hand, while another off Javagal Srinath flew over long-on and into the second deck of the stand at the Golf Course End - a monstrous hit at the Wanderers. Adam Gilchrist would outdo him in Barbados four years later, but this was still a century for the ages.

2. 104 vs India in Ahmedabad, World Cup quarter-final
24 March 2011
Not his most fluent century, nor his fastest. But it epitomised the doggedness with which Ponting, his powers waning and his side struggling, has battled through the final years of his career. He had gone 13 months without an international hundred, and endured a wretched World Cup with the bat, scoring 102 runs in his previous five innings in the tournament. Yet he saved his best for last, single-handedly giving Australia a chance when in retrospect they were the vastly inferior side. Even in defeat, there was dignity.

3. 164 v South Africa in Johannesburg, 5th one-day international
12 March 2006
One of the defining images of the famous '438/9 game', particularly for South African fans who were treated to the triumphant Supersport advertisement for months afterwards, was of Ponting laughing on the balcony as Australia put the finishing touches on a world-record total. But while the joke was ultimately on the Australian captain, the match probably wouldn't have evolved into the 'greatest one-day match ever' if it weren't for Ponting's outrageous 105-ball innings, which included nine sixes. After all, a large part of Ponting's knock was spent in the company of Simon Katich, who didn't even manage a run a ball. Ponting started the madness, but unfortunately for him the Proteas simply brought more guns to the firefight.

4. 69 v South Africa at Headingley, Super Six match
13 June 1999
Everyone remembers Steve Waugh's innings, the 120 not out from 110 balls, the famous dropped catch and the disputed sledge that followed. Yet Australia would surely have been dumped out of the World Cup were it not for Ponting's steadying hand. Waugh joined him in the middle with Australia reeling on 48 for three in pursuit of 272 for victory, and while he would provide the big hitting required to seal the deal with two balls remaining, it was Ponting who kept Australia in the game with a gritty 69 from 110 balls. It was a canny knock in which, having seen off Shaun Pollock, Steve Elworthy and Allan Donald, the pair unleashed on Hansie Cronje and Nicky Boje to smash 77 between overs 22 and 29. Ponting hit two sixes, and although he didn't see it through to the end, his contribution was critical.

5. 124 v Sri Lanka in Sydney, 2nd CB Series final
12 February 2006
Put simply, this innings changed the course of the three-match finals just when it looked like Australia would be humiliated on home soil. Sri Lanka had won the first final in Adelaide, and quickly reduced Australia to 10 for three at the start of the second match after the hosts had elected to bat. But Ponting found a willing partner in Andrew Symonds, and the pair set about savaging the Sri Lankan attack in a 237-run partnership (at the time a national record). Muttiah Muralitharan was taken for 99 in his 10 overs, and only Chaminda Vaas escaped punishment as runs were scored all around the ground in a total of 368 for five. Suitably chastened, Sri Lanka went to Brisbane where a 67-ball century from Adam Gilchrist completed the turnaround that Ponting started.

Tristan Holme