Ricky Ponting as his final Test ends in personal failure and defeat by South Africa in Perth He finished with 13,378 runs at an average of 51.85 and 41 centuries. Only Sachin Tendulkar and Jacques Kallis, who held the slip catch to deny Ponting a fairytale farewell, have made more Test hundreds. "I felt Sachin was probably the best player I played against and that's coming from more of a captain's point of view knowing he had so much success against us in our conditions and their conditions," Ponting said. I probably lost more sleep on the eve of games to [Brian] Lara because I knew that he could single-handedly win games. It's hard to separate the class of players those two guys, you have got to put Kallis in that bracket as well when you put his wickets on top of what he's done with the bat. Ponting started and finished his career at the Waca, where he made his Test debut against Sri Lanka in 1995. But he admitted that he had struggled for form in recent series. "Normally when those big moments come around, I've been able to find something within and go out and score runs," he said. But I haven't been able to do it for a while, that's when alarm bells started to ring. I have no regrets. Honestly, looking back, I don't think I'd change too much. I'll miss the mateship. I'll miss the dressing room. That's the stuff you can't replace. Ponting's farewell deflected much of the attention from Australia's 309-run mauling by South Africa in the third and final Test of the series. Graeme Smith's team remain the world's No1 Test side. "I just told him he deserved everything that comes his way and can be proud of everything he's achieved," Smith said.