Centurion David Warner said he was overdue a performance against West Indies after starring on the final day of the third Test. Warner posted the fastest Test ton at the SCG, bringing up his hundred off just 82 deliveries as Australia and West Indies played out a draw after captain Steve Smith declared late on Thursday in the rain-ravaged final match in Sydney.
Persistent rain robbed players and fans of two whole days after only 11.2 overs were bowled on day two, but Warner breathed life into the Test as the sun finally emerged, amassing an unbeaten 122-run knock before the hosts declared at 176-2. It was Warner's best score against the Windies, having never made more than 64 previously.
Speaking to ABC Grandstand afterwards, man-of-the-match Warner said: "The West Indies have been my bogey team, so I really wanted to put a big one on the board. "I knew I had time on my side but I like to try and up the ante a little bit and today it happened."
Joe Burns (26) and Mitchell Marsh (21) were the only Australian wickets to fall after West Indies were bowled out for 330. The Windies finally resumed their first innings at 248-7 but were quickly dismissed as Stephen O'Keefe (3-63) and Nathan Lyon (3-120) wrapped up the tail end.
Australia coach Darren Lehman, who was hopeful of forcing a result, lamented the tourists' conservative approach, which saw them continue batting at the start of play of Thursday. "At the end of the day we can only give teams options and if that is how they want to play that's their choice," Lehmann said. "From our point of view I think it would have been a great experience, even for the young West Indian side to actually defend a total that we had to chase and we would have gone the whole hog.
"So it would have been an exciting day but that's what happens in Test match cricket. It's never easy to get a result when you have two and half days washed out. So that's the way it is."
Comments
SHARE