Ricky Ponting gracious in defeat

New Delhi, Nov 01: Far from his belligerent self, Australia captain Ricky Ponting was grace personified after his team went down to India by six wickets in the third ODI.

Ponting admitted his side had been out-batted by the Indians, praised the match-winning 148-run stand between captain M S Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh and also refused to blame the track -- one of the lowest he has come across -- for the loss.

"India batted very well today and batted in slightly tougher conditions. I think a score around 250 would have been good but we fell a little short with the bat," Ponting said.

"They had an excellent partnership and they got those boundaries just when they needed them. We tried a lot of bowling changes and tactical things but could not break the stand. That probably made the difference," he added.

On the Kotla pitch, Ponting said, "It's one of the slowest track

s I have played ODIs on but then it was same for both the sides."