Australian opener David Warner finally returned to form in the second Test against South Africa as he scored a brilliant double hundred. Warner finally ended his century drought and reached the milestone after 1089 days. The opener looked imperious in Melbourne and played a sensational innings of 200 runs from 255 balls, packed with 16 fours and two sixes.
On reaching his double hundred, the southpaw also became the first Australian batter to reach the landmark in his 100th Test outing. With many fans and experts touting him as one of the best batters in the world, Warner recently opened up about his ‘perfect batter’, built on the signature elements of other current and former players.
Speaking on Fox Cricket, he picked Sachin Tendulkar, for his straight drives and cover drives, and also Virat Kohli. “I would probably go as far to say as Viv Richards. His backfoot cover drive, almost similar to Steve Waugh. I would put that into Sachin Tendulkar. He was a master of straight drives and normal cover drives,” said Warner.
“The other one’s I would probably like to say, you got some heat there. I like watching AB de Villiers, a 360-degree player. So he is another guy that you could mirror in with someone like Virat Kohli. These two guys, their shots go hand in hand”, he added.
This was his first Test hundred in 28 innings with his last one coming against New Zealand way back on 3rd January 2020. The opener looked ecstatic celebrating the landmark with his family appreciating the knock in the crowd.
South Africa finish Day 3 on 15/1 trailing by 371 runs
Courtesy of Warner’s knock, Australia posted a massive 575/8 in their first innings taking a massive lead of 386 runs. Apart from Warner Alex Carry scored a magnificent 111 while Steve Smith also scored a classy 85. Travis Head and Cameron Green also contributed with half-centuries.
After declaring their innings, Australia managed to pick the wicket of South African captain Dean Elgar before stumps on Day 3. Elgar gloved a short delivery down the leg side to wicketkeeper Alex Carey giving Australia and Pat Cummins their first wicket of the innings. South Africa finished Day 3 on 15/1 with Sarel Erwee and Theunis de Bruyn at the crease.
