The tourists plunged to 179 at the end of their first innings -- still 202 runs behind Australia's first innings total of 381 and three runs short of avoiding the potentially soul-destroying follow-on.

Instead, with a crack in the middle of the wicket which threatened to widen, Ponting decided to bat again and after three overs his team was 15 for none at stumps with openers Justin Langer not out on three and Matthew Hayden on seven.

Pace duo Shoaib Akhtar and paceman Mohammad Sami provided Pakistan with their only bright spot in a terrible day for the tourists with a dour ninth-wicket stand of 60 which took 176 balls to build.

"If you saw how Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Sami batted, really it was a disgraceful performance out the front," Woolmer said, referring to the failure of his top and middle order.

Woolmer refused to use the bouncy Perth wicket as an excuse, noting that his team had had plenty of time to get used to local conditions.

"We have been here for two weeks and we should have acclimatised," he said.

"Obviously pressure of the match situation seems to hone in on the cricketers because I know they are much better than this.

"If I could put my finger on why it's happening I would have stopped it by now."

Woolmer said he would talk to each of the players to try to determine the problems.

"I get the feeling they need to come out of their shells, need to express themselves more, need to develop their talent as cricketers," he said.

There was more bad news for Pakistan after Akhtar limped off the ground halfway through his second over late on Friday.

Woolmer said the problem had been caused by some ankle strapping rubbing away skin and the pace bowler would be available to play on Saturday.

After a shaky start in their opening session, losing the opening pair of Salman Butt and Imran Farat for 45 runs, Pakistan then lost six wickets after the lunch break for just 60 runs.

Australian bowlers Shane Warne and Michael Kasprowicz feasted on the slovenly antics of the Pakistan batsmen to finish with figures of 3-38 and 5-30 respectively.

Warne in particular was delighted to see the wickets of allrounder Abdul Razzaq and Mohammad Khalil fall to his guile as they attempted outrageous swipes.

But it was Younis Khan, who had come to the crease with the score at 45 for two and had settled the innings slightly with a measured 42, that started the rot.

Younis had already seen his captain Inzamamul Haq bowled by Kasprowicz straight after lunch for one and Yousuf Youhana caught behind off the same bowler for the same score to see his team reeling at 60 for four.

Yet after carrying his team to 108, he tried an undisciplined slog across the line of a Warne delivery only to sky a ball to Jason Gillespie.

Pakistan then lost Razzaq for 21, Kamran Akmal for two and Khalil to equally outrageous shots while adding just three runs to the tally.

Earlier in the day Australian opener Justin Langer's hopes of carrying his bat through his team's first innings and clocking up his fourth test double century were shattered when he could add just 10 runs to his overnight tally of 181.