Warner set to rejoin teammates

CRICKET: David Warner’s history of skipping training between games should help the opener maintain his crushing form when he rejoins Australia in Manchester today.

Warner, 32, spent three sleep-deprived nights in London after wife Candice gave birth to their third daughter, Isla Rose, on Sunday night.

“He’ll be OK. He’s got two kids so he doesn’t get much sleep anyway,” assistant coach Brad Haddin said.

“The thing with Davey’s cricket is that he doesn’t hit much during a tournament anyway. He does a lot of his volume at the start of a campaign and he’s done that.

“It’s only about making sure he’s fresh and ready to go.

“We’ve got a long turnaround, which we’re lucky about. It’s worked in our favour.”

Australia will relinquish first place on the World Cup ladder if India beats Sri Lanka on Saturday, but can reclaim it three hours later.

The Aussies play South Africa in a day-night clash and finishing first would ensure they stay in Manchester for the first semifinal, saving a travel day and delivering a longer break before the final should they advance.

Warner has dropped to No.3 in the World Cup run-scoring list with 516, overtaken by Indian opener Rohit Sharma (544) and Bangladesh superstar Shakib Al-hasan (542), who has also taken 11 wickets.

Haddin said Warner had matured both on and off the field, with his new-found batting gears boosting his average at the expense of his strike rate.

“He is still that matchwinner that he was in 2015,” Haddin said.

“What he is doing now is he’s batting in situations better. He’s got more gears.”

— Sam Landsberger

in Manchester