David Warner batted in typical Warner fashion as Australia rode on his 42-ball 65 to make it two wins out of two at the men's ICC Twenty20 World Cup with a dominant seven-wicket victory over Sri Lanka on Thursday.
Little wonder Warner was in more than a chirpy mood when he came for the post-match press conference. He began by gesturing to push the Coca-Cola bottles away in favour of water. "If it's good enough for Cristiano, it's good enough for me!", he said in jest, referring to the Portugal captain Cristiano Ronaldo, who opted for water over Coca-Cola at a press conference ahead of his country's first match at Euro 2020 against Hungary.
AUS v SL, T20 WORLD CUP - AS IT HAPPENED
That candid moment set up the mood for the remainder of the session during which Warner answered questions about his strategy, form, and everything in between with candour and honesty.
Warner's first scoring shot was a reverse-sweep off mystery spinner Maheesh Theekshana, which sailed over short third. Asked if that set the tone for his knock, Warner said: "I got criticised when I got out to Ashwin in the practice game playing the same shot.
"We know which bowlers are bowling what, we know where the fields are and we know how to try and apply pressure.
"When they're coming over the wicket, they've obviously got their carrom ball to come straight down the line. For me, it's actually a low-risk shot to go with the spin and because you've only got two [fielders] out to protect, you've got to back yourself. It's a shot that I favour."
Warner had earlier revealed he had practised on polished concrete in the build-up to this game because "when you're practising on low wickets that aren't great, it gets you into sticky positions in the games when you are on better wickets."
The move paid dividends as Warner ransacked the Sri Lankan bowling attack on a relatively flat Dubai wicket. "It was great to get out there in the middle and spend some time there, running between the wickets," Warner said about his innings.
"Little things like that just keep your mind ticking. Obviously in the last six to 12 months we haven't played that much cricket so I haven't been in those situations too often. It's about getting us off to a good start and we managed to do that."
On Thursday, Warner showed glimpses of his batting that has made him one of world's lost feared T20 openers. Australia will hope for more of the same in the coming weeks.
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