David Warner has brought up 200 runs in his 100th Test match after earlier becoming the 10th player in history to score 100 in the milestone match.
KEY POINTS
- Australia opener David Warner hsa scored a double century against South Africa in his 100th Test match.
- His century was his first Test ton since January 2020.
- He is the 10th player in history to score 100 runs in his 100th Test match.
Veteran Australia opener David Warner has built on scoring his first Test century in almost three years by reaching 200 against South Africa in his 100th Test match.
The 36-year-old reached three figures for the first time since January 2020 just after lunch on day two of the Boxing Day Test against South Africa at the Melbourne Cricket Ground and kept piling on the runs to bring up 200 off just 254 balls about 4.40pm on Tuesday.
After celebrating the feat he was immediately helped from the field by team staff, severe cramping in his legs forcing him to retire hurt. The temperature at the ground had reached 37C during his innings.
Warner had been under immense pressure after entering the final Test of the year averaging just 20.61 from 10 matches in 2022.
But being just the 14th Australian to play 100 Tests brought out the best in the aggressive left-hander, who raced towards his 25th century in the format.
David Warner is helped from the field after scoring his double century at the MCG on Tuesday. Source: AAP / James Ross
Warner has become the 10th player in history to score a ton in his 100th Test match and only the second Australian after former captain Ricky Ponting scored two centuries in his 100th Test in 2006.
The last player to bring up three figures in their 100th Test was England star Joe Root against India in February 2021.
Warner’s innings was full of his trademark powerful shots but he didn’t have it all his own way, suffering a blow to his hand through a speedy delivery from fiery Proteas fast bowler Anrich Nortje.
The decline in Warner’s form had been so sharp he had failed to pass 50 runs since the third Test against Pakistan in Lahore in March.
Warner has hinted about retiring from Tests in the near future but is desperate to be part of blockbuster tours of India and England next year.
Adding to Warner’s recent woes ahead of this match is the fact he has been dealing with the ongoing fallout from Sandpapergate. Warner, then captain Steve Smith and batsman Cameron Bancroft all received lengthy bans after Bancroft used sandpaper to tamper with the ball during a Test match against South Africa in 2018.
Earlier this month, Warner withdrew an appeal against the lifetime leadership ban Cricket Australia’s imposed on him, and spoke of his anger about the process ahead of the Adelaide Test against West Indies.
Warner celebrates bringing up his century earlier in the day. Source: Getty / Quinn Rooney
Warner on Saturday conceded his mental health was impacted by the process and fired another shot at CA, saying they gave him no support at the start of the summer.
His wife Candice was ecstatic he had been able to silence the doubters.
“You’d think by now writing David off is probably the wrong thing to do, he thrives on that,” she told Fox Cricket.
“It’s been an incredibly tough period and people don’t take those things into consideration.
“It hasn’t been easy but he never uses that as an excuse.”
Centuries in 100th Test
Colin Cowdrey (Eng) 104 v Australia, 1968
Javed Miandad (Pak) 145 v India, 1989
Gordon Greenidge (WI) 149 v England, 1990
Alec Stewart (Eng) 105 v West Indies, 2000
Inzamam-ul-Haq (Pak) 184 v India, 2005
Ricky Ponting (Aus) 120 and 143* v South Africa, 2006
Graeme Smith (SA) 131 v England, 2012
Hashim Amla (SA) 134 v Sri Lanka, 2017
Joe Root (Eng) 218 v India, 2021
David Warner (Aus) — v South Africa, 2022
SBS
