Legendary Australia captain Ricky Ponting heaped praise on South Africa all-rounder Marco Jansen for his brilliant performance in the World Test Championship (WTC) final and claimed that he will be among the finest Test all-rounders in the world in the coming future. Jansen proved to be very effective for the Proteas at Lord's during Australia's first innings, finishing with figures of 3/49.
Though his teammmate, Kagiso Rabada outshined him with a five-wicket haul, Jansen picked up the big wickets of Marnus Labuschagne and Travis Head, so his performance definitely didn't go unnoticed. Additionally, he also dismissed Nathan Lyon as the Baggy Greens were bundled out for just 212 runs.
"He's pretty quiet and pretty laid back. Nothing really affects him too much. Regardless of if he's had a great day or not such a great day, he remains the same person," Ponting told ICC Digital.
"Whether that's internally and the way that he thinks about the game or the way that he is around the dressing room. But I think like most South Africans, you can tell there's an ultra competitive streak inside him. And once he gets out on the field, then it's game on," he added.
Ponting and Jansen worked together during IPL 2025
Notably, Ponting recently worked with Jansen during IPL 2025. The former Australia cricketer was the head coach of Punjab Kings, the same franchise Jansen was present at. Ponting remarked that he loved working with the 25-year-old and even labelled him as an 'extreme talent'.
"I think he's going to... be one of the best all-rounders in Test match cricket in the world in the next couple of years. I've loved working with him and I just think he's an extreme talent that is still so young in his international career," Ponting stated.
Coming to the match, South Africa weren't able to take advantage after bowling out Australia for a low first-inning total and only managed to score 138 runs in reply before getting bundled out. For the Aussies, skipper Pat Cummins was the star performer, finishing with figures of 6/28. Thanks to an incredible bowling performance, Australia took a 74-run lead before their second innings.
However, the Proteas clawed their way back into the game thanks to their bowlers, who once again performed brilliantly during the second day of the match. Notably, Jansen got Labuschagne again in the second innings and this was his fourth scalp of the match.
After South Africa had decimated their top-order, Australia rode on the crucial 61-run partnership between Alex Carey and Mitchell Starc and saw their lead cross the 200-run mark. Carey departed during the second-last over of the day as the Baggy Greens ended up on 144/8 and now head into the third day with a healthy lead of 218 runs.