WELCOME BACK
Warner rides luck for ton
There’s no place like home – especially if you’re David Warner.
The opener made a total of just 95 runs in five Ashes Tests this year and some considered him lucky to keep his spot for the home summer.
His strong record on Australian soil was largely to thank for the axe not swinging.
Yesterday, day two of the first Test against Pakistan, Warner showed that selectors made the right call, scoring his first century since the 2017 Boxing Day Test, 696 days ago.
Warner looked a different batsman after he returned home from a disastrous Ashes campaign and he continued his purple patch at the Gabba.
There were signs he had shaken himself out of his malaise when he started his Sheffield Shield campaign with a century, and even more as he scored 287 runs across Australia’s six Twenty20s while falling once.
He had some luck along the way yesterday – he was out to a no-ball on 56 and later was millimetres from being run out on 93, but he survived both scares to score his 22nd career century in his first Test in Australia since January 2018.
It is at least the third time Warner has enjoyed a no-ball reprieve on his way to a ton, having enjoyed similar luck against England (2017) and India (2014).
Aside from that one misstep, however, he did it with ease against Pakistan’s inexperienced attack.
The left-hander played with the type of assuredness that was absent throughout the Ashes, where he averaged 9.50 across the
five Tests in a tortuous series for the opener.
All in all there were seven boundaries in the 180 balls he took to raise his hundred yesterday and it was not a century that would have come as a surprise to his teammates.
“Just watching him the past few days in the nets, he looks as good as I’ve seen him for a long time, which is great for us,” captain Tim Paine said before the Test.
Warner batted all day, heading to stumps unbeaten on 151 alongside Marnus Labuschagne (55).
Burns (97) fell just short of his fifth Test century after he was bowled around his legs by
Yasir Shah, who bowled a mammoth
28 overs for
1-101.
Burns was the only Australian wicket to fall on a dominant day for the hosts as the world’s best batsman, Steve Smith, sat in the dressing rooms all day with his pads on.
Australia finished day two with a lead of 72 and nine wickets in hand, setting the scene for a comfortable win.