Melbourne Dec 28 (BNA): Australia’s opener David Warner said his double-century in the Boxing Day Test against South Africa was among the best batting of his career after entering the match under pressure to score runs.
Reuters reports that Warner retired with a cramp after reaching 200 off 254 balls on Tuesday with tears in his eyes as he limped from the Melbourne Cricket Ground with the support of a coach after tea on a sweltering second day.
The 36-year-old received a standing ovation when he returned to the crease on Wednesday, but the ball was initially bowled out by Enrich Norte’s Yorker.
It was Warner’s third double century after 253 against New Zealand in Perth in 2015 and an unbeaten 335 against Pakistan in 2019.
“I was having[my best]that day with a couple of (journalists) and that’s definitely in there now,” Warner told the Seven Network before play began on day three.
“To get out there, a lot of pressure, I don’t feel pressure in general, I don’t feel stressed.
“But to come out here and tell my friends, ‘I’m going to go out to play the way I want to, and I’m looking to score and I have the intention’, and to deliver that in a Boxing Day Test which is the pinnacle as a kid…to go out and do that for sure has been cool.”
Warner had not scored a Test hundred in nearly three years before Tuesday and managed just three runs in the series-opening win at the Gaba after averaging 25.50 in the two-Test series against the West Indies at the start of the home summer.
Warner said his left leg was “completely gone” late on Tuesday from his injury and he had an hour-long ice bath to recover before he fell asleep.
“When your back is against the wall, you can only look forward, that’s how I’ve always been,” he said.
“It was emotional, it was tough out there, it was exhausting.
“The boost, the articles… It was a magical moment and I’m so proud to have done it in front of my family and friends.”
SM