14 December 2023 05:07 pm Views - 2342
In a stellar kick-off to his farewell tour, David Warner silenced all critics about his Test cricket form with a remarkable 164 off 211 balls on the opening day of the first Test against Pakistan.
En route to his incredible innings, Warner entered the top five run-getters for Australia in Test cricket, leapfrogging Matthew Hayden and Michael Clarke. In the all-time list, his big hundred helped him surpass fellow swashbucklers Sir Viv Richards and Virender Sehwag.
Warner now stands fifth among Australia's highest Test run-getters with 8651 runs, trailing only Steve Smith, Steve Waugh, Allan Border and Ricky Ponting.
Top 10 run-getters for Australia in Tests
Warner justified Pat Cummins' decision to bat first on the Perth surface as he came out with intent. He raced to a fifty off just 41 balls, stringing a century stand with Usman Khawaja that came at a brisk pace.
While his fellow teammates were guilty of not capitalising on good starts – Smith was the next-highest scorer on the day with only 41 runs – Warner went on to notch up his 26th Test hundred that was followed by his trademark leap and celebration.
After reaching his century, the 37-year-old David Warner received a couple of lifelines – first, Khurram Shahzad missed a catching opportunity, and then Sarfaraz Ahmed failed to execute a stumping. Warner made Pakistan pay by piling on the runs and notching up 150.
The visitors finally got the better of Warner by deploying the short-ball tactic that saw the Aussie opener hole out in the deep a few overs before the end of the day's play. Mitchell Marsh and Alex Carey then navigated the remaining overs without further setbacks, guiding Australia to a commanding position with 346 runs on the board and five wickets down.