AUS v NZ: David Warner Eager To Carry On Dream ODI Run
Dec 7, 2016 at 9:45 AM
2016 has by far been David Warner’s best year as an ODI batsman. The New South Wales dynamite has already amassed six centuries this year and has taken his average well beyond 40. Going into 2016, Warner was an inconsistent ODI batsman who often got starts but failed to capitalize it into a big score. With an ODI career average of 41.74 at an astonishing strike rate of 94.53, he has finally come to the party as far as ODIs are concerned.
His bludgeoning innings at the Manuka Oval in Canberra saw Australia regaining the Chappell- Hadlee Trophy with a colossal victory by 116 runs. Batting first, the Kangaroos were in mood from the very offset as Warner went about his task in precision. Thanks to his 119 off 115 deliveries and rapid half centuries from Steve Smith, Travis Head and Mitchell Marsh, Australia amassed a mammoth 378-5. In reply, New Zealand could only manage 262.
Post game, Warner mentioned he was eager to carry on his good form. “First and foremost it’s been the format I struggled at early in my career,” Warner said. “The last 18-24 months I’ve really worked hard to try to construct my innings and build an innings, and not play too many big shots early in my innings. If the ball’s there I’m still going to go after it, but that’s just what I put it down to, trying to construct an innings and relay that Test match attitude into the one-dayers.
“You do get a few more balls in your area in the one-day stuff where you can actually play through the line, and there’s probably not as much movement off the wicket as well especially when you play on grounds like Manuka. It was an absolute belter to play on,” Warner added.
Speaking about the game, Warner added it was imperative to keep wickets intact for the death overs.
“Their best attribute is probably swinging the ball with the new rock and I think they tried to make the most of that,” Warner mentioned. “We knew batting here first is always a plus and we knew we had to try to keep wickets in hand for the last 10 overs.
“We’ve seen that with the away teams that have come here, they’ve got into great positions but really not been able to finish off the games, it just gets too far ahead. You can still finish off well, but I think when opposition teams come here they see that big gap in the run rate go up and try to up the ante too early later,” he concluded.