The legend of the game on Sunday came out of retirement for a charitable cause at the Junction Oval in Melbourne for the bushfire relief fund. After the game, the players put their jerseys up for auction while former Indian cricketers Sachin Tendulkar and Yuvraj Singh putting up a signed World Cup 2011 stump as well.
A total of 40 items were put for auction after the match with the signed stump bearing the highest price - 4050 Australian dollars, followed by the signed jersey of Phoebe Litchfield - 4005 Australian dollars. And, at the time of writing, Ricky Ponting's jersey, of value 940 Australian dollars, garnered the highest number of bids (75), followed by Litchfield's jersey (69). Sachin's jersey had 51 bids and the signed stump had 44 bids.
Talking about the game, Ponting's XI scored 104 for the loss of five runs in 10 overs and there were plenty of highlights. Lara scored a breathtaking 30 laced with a couple of impressive lofted cover drives before Ponting who managed an entertaining 26 off 14.
In between, Sachin batted for the first time in five years where he faced an over from Ellyse Perry and Annabel Sutherland (three balls apiece).
In reply, Gilchrist started off with a first-ball six and Shane Watson pulled off 30 off nine, but the team fell one run short of the target.