With England 1-457, an exasperating day for Australia was made worse when Alastair Cook clipped Xavier Doherty to short midwicket where Ponting scooped up a low catch.
The celebration was so low key Cook stood his ground and the decision was referred to the television umpire who - as they almost invariably do in catches taken close to the ground - ruled not out.
Ponting appeared to catch the ball cleanly and expressed his bewilderment to the umpires and Cook once the appeal was rejected after a marathon review.
Ricky Ponting has branded cricket's electronic referral system a blight on the game after being denied what he considered a fair catch.
"I said to the umpire straight away that I was pretty sure I caught the ball. That was about all I could do.
"Quite a few of the boys ran to me straight away and said, 'You caught it'. I wanted to see how they got to the not out decision.
"They said it was not 100 per cent clear on the replay."
Ponting has long campaigned for the fieldsman's word to be trusted in such incidents, but has failed to get support from the captains of other Test nations.
"As soon as they are referred you pretty much know what the result is going to be, which is why six or seven years ago when I took up that captaincy job I pleaded with every opposition captain around the world to take the matter out of the third umpire's hands," Ponting said.
During Australia's innings, fast bowler Jimmy Anderson tangled with Shane Watson and appeared to sledge the Australian all-rounder.
Ponting then had words with Anderson, which prompted England captain Andrew Strauss to speak to Ponting.
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