"Come on Kev" - Ricky Ponting rips into Pietersen for his 'off-spinner with zero variations' remark on Nathan Lyon 

Former Australian skipper-turned pundit Ricky Ponting wasn't impressed with former England batter Kevin Pietersen's assessment of Nathan Lyon on Day Three of the Adelaide Test.

Pietersen took to his official Twitter account on Saturday afternoon where he urged English batters to 'smack' Lyon on 'world cricket's flattest road'. Pietersen wrote:

"Can someone please smack Lyon? FFS! Off-spinner with zero variations and bowling on world cricket’s flattest road!”

Soon after KP's tweet went viral on social media, Channel 7 commentator Ponting analyzed the off-spinner's Test numbers. He also pointed to Pietersen's record against Lyon.

The former swashbuckling batter was dismissed 4 times by Lyon during his Test career. Only Shane Warne, Muttiah Muralidaran and Saeed Ajmal dismissed Pietersen more than Lyon. Ponting said:

"400 Test wickets, Kev. Lyon to Pietersen. Lyon got him four times for 163 runs and at the Adelaide Oval, the world‘s flattest cricket wicket, Kevin Pietersen, none for 14 off 23 balls with 15 dots and only one boundary. Come on, Kev.”

Lyon claimed his 400th Test wicket at the Gabba last week to become the first Aussie off-spinner and only the third bowler from his country to scale Mount. 400.

"I wonder if Kev’s still watching; the GOAT’s just taken another one" - Ricky Ponting

Lyon claimed three wickets during England's first innings on Saturday. He dismissed Ollie Pope before knocking over Chris Woakes and Ollie Robinson to finish with figures of 3/58 in 28 overs.

As Lyon weaved his magic in Adelaide, Ponting took a jibe at KP when he said:

"I wonder if Kev’s still watching. The GOAT’s just taken another one. This is high-class bowling, pushed him back. They left the field open on the off-side, inside edge back on the stumps. This is off-spin of the highest class.”

Pietersen also reacted on Twitter where he wrote:

''It’s quite bizarre how many Australians responded so negatively to my tweet about Lyon. The Aussie way would be to attack and NOT play him like these English batters. Because he’s got 400 wickets, you’re not allowed to attack him?! Strange!"

Meanwhile, Australia have put themselves in prime position to take a 2-0 lead in the series. At Stumps on Day Three, their overall lead swelled to 282.