Ponting hails Rabada, Jansen for dominating Day 1 of WTC final

Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting showered praise on South Africa’s Kagiso Rabada and Marco Jansen for dominating Day 1 of the WTC final 2025.

Rabada was the pick of the bowlers for the Proteas, having bagged his 17th Test five-for on Day 1 of the ultimate Test at the Lord’s.

It was the right-arm pacer’s second consecutive five-wicket haul in the first innings at Lord’s, after his five-for during South Africa’s Test against England in 2022.

Marco Jansen picked up three wickets as Australia were bowled out for 212 in their first innings of the WTC final 2025.

Following their exceptional outing with the ball, Ricky Ponting hailed Kagiso Rabada and Marco Jansen as one of the most formidable fast bowling duos in cricket.

“I don’t think there’s any doubt about that. I think that’s sort of been building up over the last couple of years. They contrast each other really well with the left-arm and right-arm,” the former Australia skipper said.

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Ricky Ponting added, “Marco is obviously getting a bit steeper bounce than what Rabada gets. When you’re talking about bowling partnerships or bowling combinations, you need guys that complement each other well.”

According to Ponting, the duo’s combined efforts in the WTC final 2025 came after working “really well together now for a few years.”

The former Australia skipper went on to compare Kagiso Rabada to the legendary pacer Glenn McGrath.

“Glenn McGrath was also exactly the same at Lord’s. McGrath loved bowling at Lord’s and loved being able to use the slope both ways from either end of the ground, which is something that is probably not talked about as much as it should be,” he said.