South Africa aim to add to Warner's load

South Africa's coach Mickey Arthur feels sorry for the pressure placed on David Warner and says the hype for the opener is "way over the top". Warner will play his second ODI, and his first at his home ground, on Friday during the third match of the series at the SCG.

Since breaking through with 89 on his Twenty20 debut against South Africa, Warner has had more attention than the rest of his team-mates. "Actually, I feel quite sorry for the lad," Arthur said in the Australian. "He's played one fantastic innings and suddenly he's been hailed as the next Messiah almost.

"I think it's been way over the top, to be honest. Yes, he's a good player. He looks very talented, but he's played a handful of games. He hasn't played a first-class game of cricket yet."

Despite Arthur's sympathy, he wants to add to Warner's problems after he posted 7 and 5 in his previous two innings. "The expectations on his shoulders are huge and I think those expectations get heavier and heavier with every failure," Arthur said. "Hopefully, we can still keep him under that sort of pressure. But to be fair to the guys, he's very dangerous."

Ricky Ponting is still getting to know Warner and said he had "just let Dave go". "There's been enough pressure on him and speculation for me just to let him go and get about his cricket and work out for himself what he needs to do," he said.

"He seems that sort of player to me who's a free-spirited young bloke who goes out and sees the ball and hits the ball, a bit like Gilly [Adam Gilchrist]. Quite often, the more you have to say to those blokes the more confused and complicated they make things and the harder the game becomes." The series is level at 1-1 with matches in Adelaide and Perth remaining after the contest in Sydney.