Bridgetown (Barbados), April 29: Ricky Ponting, who on Saturday led Australia to a historic third successive World Cup title, was in no mood to pull his punches. "We’ve dominated this tournament like no team has a tournament before," he said.

"We’ve never really been tested. In ’03, there were a few situations where it looked like we were going to lose. In ’99, it was the exact opposite. After two or three games, we had to win every game from there on in."

He also admitted that despite Adam Gilchrist’s Cup final record score of 149, there had been some tense moments. "When you have guys like Jayasuriya and Sangakkara, you’re always in the game.

"They were on track for a while. They’re quality players and we needed a breakthrough at that stage to get our noses back in front. Hoggy (Brad Hogg) got a wicket and then Michael Clarke got one. Then it got dark, it started to rain." Ponting also sprang something of a surprise when he said he was little disappointed at the way the tournament had ended.

"It turned out to be a premature celebration," Ponting said, when asked how it felt being told by umpires Aleem Dar and Steve Bucknor to bowl the last three overs after the match had been called off.

"I thought it was a joke, the umpires playing a prank by stopping our celebrations. People watching the match back home and other places must have been surprised at what was going on. The final could have had a better ending," Ponting said, referring to the strange happenings when the match was stopped and then restarted.

On Australia’s title hat-trick, Ponting said it was the way his teammates had approached this tournament. "To be one of this group of players has been very, very special. It’s unbelievable what we’ve been able to achieve.

"The extended team and support staff have given us the opportunity to prepare the best we possibly could and then go and play some great cricket. Everything came together for us really well.

"Full credit to the guys for the way they’ve played. We never had a close game and we’ve never been satisfied with where we were. Individually we kept challenging ourselves and the results just kept getting better and better.

"There was one difference between the two teams today and that was Adam Gilchrist. It was an unbelievable innings and something to behold."

Added Ponting: "I am unbelievably proud of what we have achieved. All the guys have done it for eight weeks and everything came together for us in the final. We’ve played some unbelievable cricket.

"That’s full credit to the way the guys have played. The results have kept getting better and better. It is a day I’ll never forget."

Ponting felt that his highly-successful opening combination of Matthew Hayden and Adam Gilchrist should not contemplate retirements for at least another two years. As Australia’s new line-up begins to take shape after a spate of retirements, he said he needed two of his major batsmen to continue helping with the transition.