On the eve of the second Test against Sri Lanka in Johannesburg, South Africa opener Dean Elgar has said that hosts need to throw the first punch at the depleted visiting side.

Apart from suffering an innings and 45 runs defeat in the first Test at Centurion, five Sri Lankan players broke down due to injuries, with three of them being serious enough to rule out of the second Test, including senior batsman Dinesh Chandimal.

"We've obviously got to try and throw the first punch, which we didn't do in the first Test. It's almost like we waited for them to make a play and put ourselves under a lot of pressure with them scoring almost 400 runs. We know if we strike first with the ball we will put them under a lot of pressure especially on a wicket at the Wanderers that generally assists seam bowling," ESPNCricinfo quoted Elgar as saying.

"We also have to start well with the bat. Being able to score 600 was a very good effort but we're also aware that we faced a bowling attack that was hit with quite a few injuries. We know we've got to start again. We are playing on a different pitch. We know Wanderers is a place where if you apply yourself as a batter you can score nicely," he added.

In the series opener at the Wanderers, South Africa piled up a mammoth 621/10 in the first innings with multiple batsmen chipping with significant contributions. While Elgar missed his century by 5 runs, Faf du Plessis was dismissed for 199.

"A lot of guys had good starts. A guy like Aiden (Markram) who has had time away from the Proteas with injuries it's nice to see him come and show his form that he had in domestic cricket. That was a confidence booster. But it was very important for myself and Faf (du Plessis) to put our hands up and lead from the front. We haven't had a lot of leaders in the last year. It was important for us to put in big performances. And it was also awesome to see a guy like Kesh(Keshav Maharaj) coming out and scoring runs," said Elgar.

(With ANI inputs)