This was published 2 years ago
With this century, Warner has gone past Viv Richards and Virender Sehwag on the all-time Test run charts.
That is fitting because no-one else that high on the list has scored at anything like the same speed, only Brian Lara and Matthew Hayden have scored their runs with a strike-rate above 60.
Messrs Warner (strike-rate of 70.45), Sehwag (82.23) and Richards (69.77) sit light years ahead of all others as far as scoring rates go.
Greetings sports fans,
It’s stinking hot, Woolies has had Christmas paraphernalia on sale for months and there’s just one thing missing from your summer. Cricket. Thankfully, we’re in business in around 80 minutes with the first Test kicking off in Perth.
We’ve had Mitchell Johnson sledging anyone and everyone and a kerfuffle over Usman Khawaja’s right to write on his shoes, so it’s about time for Pakistan and the hosts to do their thing - Malcolm Conn and Daniel Brettig are on the ground in WA and standing by, we’ll have the toss and final confirmed teams shortly.
I’ll be here in the Maroubra bureau with you all afternoon and evening, giddy up.
No bones about it, David Warner’s day. Mitchell Johnson in commentary for Triple M too if you don’t mind.
Slightly wobbly start but positive intent from Warner from the outset and once he hit 20, he was on. Punished anything with width and Shaheen helped out with more than a few offerings down leg.
Finished with his sixth Test hundred against Pakistan and third score above 150 against them - his average from 11 Tests is up in the 90s.
Starts for every Australian batter, Travis Head the only one to throw his wicket away as Pakistan - especially the debutants Jamal and Shahzad - showed plenty and were rewarded late.
Local boy Mitch Marsh at the crease to start day two. Australia very much in charge but quick wickets could shift that. The pitch is showing signs of variable bounce and Nathan Lyon will appreciate the turn on offer for Salman as the day wore on.
Until tomorrow, that’s all she wrote.
That’s why they didn’t drop him.
If the sort of performance David Warner unfurled in Perth has become less frequent than it once was, his capacity to make a rapid, agenda-setting century for Australia at the top of the order in Test matches at home is still the best in the country.
And against Pakistan, the team Warner has saved many of his most outrageous displays for, the 36-year-old crushed 164 from 211 balls. It was the sort of innings that only Virender Sehwag or Viv Richards have conjured as often as Warner over 146 years of Test match history.
Some of Australia’s coaches and selectors dined with Warner in Perth’s Chinatown district on match eve. This was in keeping with the collaborative and thoughtful environment fostered by Andrew McDonald and George Bailey. But theirs was not a selection based on sentiment.
Alex Carey and Mitch Marsh see out the day against a tiring Pakistan attack. Debutants Shahzad and Jamal finishing strongest of Pakistan’s bowlers. Spearhead Shaheen Afridi returned late in the day but looked every bit of a man who has bowled 19 overs today.
Shahzad meanwhile, still beating Marsh’s bat with the last few balls of the day. Gets another one to rear and Marsh does well to keep that ball down. And then beaten all ends up with the final offering of day one. Well bowled.
Australia: 5-346 (Marsh 15*, Carey 14*)
Plenty of empty seats on the coverage in a stadium with a capacity of 60,000, but it is a Thursday start for the Test. And today’s crowd of 16,259 (updated by Cricket Australia from its initial count) is up on the 10,929 that attended day one of the Perth Test against the West Indies last year.
Meanwhile, Alex Carey beaten all ends up, somehow isn’t bowled. Jamal gets one to jag back viciously at 140km/hr, beats the bat and just misses the off stump. Sarfaraz makes a diving take down the legside. Pakistan’s debutants have been their most impressive bowlers today.
Australia: 5-330 (Marsh 9*, Carey 6*)
Pakistan finally get their man. David Warner gone for 164 from 211 balls. Caught by Imam-ul-Haq at backward square thanks to Aamer Jamal’s short-ball assault.
Warner took a top-edged six earlier in the over, but five short balls and Warner’s big day in the sun takes its toll. Can’t control that hook shot and now Alex Carey comes to the crease.
Compelling innings amid serious noise from Warner. More than half his runs came in boundaries and he’s dictated the first day of a Test and series for the umpteenth time.
Australia: 5-322 (Marsh 7*, Carey 1*)
Travis Head is filthy on himself as he trudges off Perth Stadium and that’s the first real batting error in a long time.
He’s steered it straight down short third man - Agha Salman didn’t have to move for that, and debutant Aamer Jamal has his first Test wicket.
Head’s tossed away a few runs here, out for 40 from 53 balls, and he knows it. Back of a length offering from Jamal and might have bounced a bit on him, hint of a top edge. None of that for Mitch Marsh though. Unfurls a thumping cover drive for four from his second ball.
Australia: 4-308 (Warner 154*, Marsh 4*)
Another milestone for David Warner as he passes 150. His seventh time past that mark in Tests and third against Pakistan with 154 against them in Brisbane in 2019 and of course, that 335* in the same series in Adelaide.
And a nervous moments the previous over for Travis Head. Completely mishit an attempted whip through mid-wicket from Faheem Ashraf, ball flew toward gully, falling short of the fielder at third man. Undeterred as always, coming down the pitch and smacking Salman for four over mid-on after the drinks break.
Australia: 3-294 (Warner 150*, Head 34*)
Australia in cruise control now as Pakistan start trying different things late in the day. We’ve got an hour’s worth of play as a couple of short gullies are deployed one over from Shaheen, whose current spell lasts just two overs.
What looks to be a short ball set-up now for Travis Head, who already has 26 runs on the board and is making Warner earn his keep after six hours at the crease.
In saying that, Warner was just pushing for three runs and Head had to convince him to settle for two. Indefatigable. Head follows up with another boundary flayed through cover.
Australia: 3-278 (Warner 142*, Head 26*)