MELBOURNE, 29 December 2003 — Australia Ricky Ponting joined Don Bradman in scoring his third double-century of the year as Australia piled the runs and misery on India in the third cricket Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground here yesterday.

Ponting hit a Test-best 257 — the fourth highest Test score at the ground — as Australia amassed a first innings 558 and a 192-run innings lead in their bid to level the series at 1-1 with two days left.

The captain-in-waiting bettered his previous highest Test score of 242 in last week’s second Adelaide Test with another epic innings of discipline and concentration over almost 10 hours at the crease.

At the close, India were shuddering at 27 for two with vice-captain Rahul Dravid and his skipper Saurav Ganguly, coming in ahead of out-of-form Sachin Tendulkar, both on six. Both openers Akash Chopra (4) and Virender Sehwag (11) were removed in the first five overs, exposing Dravid and Ganguly to Australia’s fired-up new-ball attack of Brett Lee and Nathan Bracken.

Ponting joined the great Bradman as the only players in Test cricket to score three double-centuries in a calendar year.

Bradman scored 254, 334 and 232 for Australia against England in 1930. Ponting added his two double-centuries in the India series to the 206 he amassed against the West Indies in Trinidad in April.

In the process Ponting, who takes over as team leader following Steve Waugh’s retirement after Friday’s fourth Sydney Test, broke teammate Matthew Hayden’s Australian record of 1,391 runs accumulated in 2001 and was leading Brian Lara in the closing days of 2003 with 1,472 runs at 98.1. Only West Indian Viv Richards (1,710 runs in 1976) and Englishman Michael Vaughan (1,481 in 2002) have scored more runs than 29-year-old Ponting in a calendar year.

Ponting has scored six centuries this year, more than any other batsman in world cricket. Ponting, who occupied the crease for 590 minutes with 26 boundaries off 458 balls, raised his double century with a single off Ashish Nehra and ran on to the outfield with his arms raised to the acclaim of the home crowd.

He was finally out when he became one of spinner Anil Kumble’s six wickets when he was stumped by Parthiv Patel in the second-last over of the 626-minute innings.

Waugh, who has announced the Sydney Test will be his last, batted in distress for 19 after earlier being forced to retire hurt without a run when he took a blow on his left elbow from a lifting Agit Agarkar delivery.

The Australian skipper, who was given a rapturous welcome as he strode out to bat in his final Melbourne Test, had considerable swelling around the elbow, but after ice treatment he returned to bat following the dismissal of Simon Katich. X-rays later revealed no bone fracture.

Waugh was out leg before wicket to Kumble prompting another standing ovation for his painful 83-minute stint at the wicket off 69 balls with one boundary. Waugh first came to the crease upon the dismissal of Martyn, who was caught behind by Patel for 31 off Agarkar.

Katich batted for 92 minutes for his 29 before he was caught by a leaping Chopra at short leg off Kumble. Lee was caught close to the wicket for eight, giving Kumble his fifth wicket of the innings. Bracken lasted five balls before he popped back a return catch to Tendulkar for one with Ponting at the other end on 251. Ponting’s dismissal gave Kumble the figures of 6-176 off a marathon 51 overs.