London, June 13 (IANS) Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting believes South Africa’s batters need to adopt a more aggressive approach against Australia’s bowlers when they return to the crease on Friday in the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) Final at Lord’s.

On a thrilling second day in London, Kagiso Rabada and South Africa’s formidable pace attack showcased their quality, staging a strong comeback with the ball after the team was bowled out for just 138 in the first innings.

Now, with a chance to redeem themselves, South Africa face a high-stakes run chase on Friday in their bid to win the one-off Test. Ponting noted that both teams have been too cautious against the new ball and urged South Africa’s batters to take the initiative, play with intent and put Australia’s bowlers under pressure from the outset.

“One thing I do know about the game and when you are facing the best of the best and the South African top-order were definitely doing that, you’ve got to look to put pressure back on the bowlers,” Ponting told ICC Digital. “You can’t just sit there and wait for them because they just don’t make mistakes.”

None of South Africa’s top six batters managed to score more than 45 in their first innings at Lord’s, with only four batters reaching double figures as Australia’s pacers, led by skipper Pat Cummins’ six-wicket haul, took control.

Ponting urged the Proteas to adopt a different approach when they return to bat on Friday. “Sometimes you’ve just got to do things a little bit differently. You have got to find some way to put some pressure back on those bowlers and actually force them to bowl more bad balls.

“It’s easy for us to sit back and say they didn’t show enough intent, but unfortunately, you have to. You’ve got to put pressure back on them; otherwise, the scoreboard goes nowhere.

“You lose two quick wickets and all of a sudden you’re two for none when you maybe could be two for 20 or 30 even. And it’s a different game from there, but they’ll learn their lessons and they’ll have to try and find a way to change things up in the second innings,” Ponting said.

After the end of play on Thursday, Australia were 144/8, leading by 218 runs with Mitchell Starc and Nathan Lyon in the middle.

–IANS

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