When a batsman as explosive as Ricky Ponting makes 154 it's reasonable to expect fireworks, but his innings at Adelaide was unusually muted. Ponting normally fuses style and substance into a volatile and irresistible cocktail, yet here he placed much greater store on substance alone. Ponting hit only four fours in going to his century, which by anyone's standards - but especially his - is a sparse return. In reaching his 13 Test hundreds before this, Ponting averaged 55 runs in boundaries. That's more than three times the 16 he produced today.

Ponting has been accused of hotheadedness both on and off the pitch, but he showed he has more than one string to his bow. The sobriety of his innings was more in keeping with a Tasmanian No. 3 well-known for his drinking exploits, David Boon.

As our graph shows, Ponting was in control of 87% of his strokes, an exceedingly high ratio. The split of those figures makes interesting reading: Steve Harmison (76%), Craig White (80%), Andy Caddick (84%), Matthew Hoggard (93%) and Richard Dawson (96%).

Eighteen months ago, Ponting was tortured by an offspinner, but his control over Dawson was masterful here. It seems a long time since Ponting made just 18 runs in five innings against Harbhajan Singh and India - he has averaged 62.88 from 19 Tests since.

Rob Smyth is assistant editor of Wisden.com.

© Wisden CricInfo Ltd