Happy to finish with a win: Ponting

Last Friday's 47-run win over South Africa in Johannesburg has enabled Australia (123 points) to surge to second place ahead of India (122) on the ICC ODI table.

Last Friday's 47-run win over South Africa in Johannesburg has enabled Australia (123 points) to surge to second place ahead of India (122) on the ICC ODI table.

South Africa now top the table with 126 points.

Despite the overall ODI 3-2 series defeat to the Proteas, the convincing victory in the last match has buoyed the Australians' spirits ahead of the offshore ODI series against Pakistan starting in the UAE next Wednesday, as they prepare for their all-important Ashes series in England later in the year.

Ricky Ponting

"It's just a bit of a shame that it has taken until the last game for some of our better cricket to come out," Ricky Ponting, who scored 40, said after last Friday's match.

"We definitely batted with a lot more freedom than we probably had in the last few games.

"It's pleasing to finish the series the way we have. Yes it's disappointing to lose the series but we wanted to take whatever we could out of the last game," Ponting said.

"Certainly for guys going to Dubai they can take a bit of confidence out of that now."u00a0 ,

Ponting is being rested from the series in the desert, along with pace spearhead Mitchell Johnson and batsman Michael Hussey. Vice-captain Michael Clarke will lead the side in Ponting's absence.