Australian opener David Warner’s poor run continues as he bagged a golden duck in the warm-up match against New Zealand. It was an absolute one-handed stunner from Martin Guptill at first slip off Tim Southee’s bowling. This is Warner’s third consecutive inning where he has failed to make an impact.
The left-handed opener was benched by Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) after he registered scores of 0 and 2 against Delhi Capitals and Punjab Kings respectively. The Aussie opener did not get a single game after that and is unlikely to be retained by SRH ahead of the mega auction before Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 even if the new rules permit.
Earlier Warner had pulled out of Australia’s tour of Bangladesh when they lost the five-T20I series by 1-4.
Before the start of ICC World Cup 2021, Australian skipper Aaron Finch backed Warner to perform in the mega event and did not seem concerned by his form in UAE.
In T20 World Cup events, Warner is Australia’s second-highest run-scorer with 473 runs from 23 matches at an average of 21.50. The New South Wales-born cricketer has scored three half-centuries as well.
Australia win last-over thriller
Chasing 159, Australia lost wickets at regular intervals. Batting at no.4 Steve Smith top-scored for Australia with 35 runs from 30 deliveries. There were valuable contributions throughout the run chase barring Warner and Mathew Wade who gout out for ducks. The run chase became tricky with two overs left and 25 more runs to score. Coming to bat with just three balls to go, Josh Inglis scored two consecutive boundaries off Kyle Jamieson to seal victory with one ball to spare.
