It was a very funny incident during Australia’s opening fixture of the ongoing ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024, in the West Indies and the United States of America (USA), where they locked horns with Oman at the Kensington Oval in Bridgetown, Barbados. Their opener David Warner looked back at the moment when he had almost mistakenly walked into the ‘wrong dressing room’.
Winning the toss, the 2021-T20 champions were invited to bat first on a slow surface which was helping the spinners quite a lot. The Aussies reached 37/1 in the powerplay, but didn’t look to put their feet on the accelerator, reaching 114/3 in 16 overs.
But an exceptional knock of unbeaten 67 runs in 34 balls, from Marcus Stoinis carried them to a powerful position of 164/5 in their allotted 20 overs.
In reply, Oman didn’t have a great start, losing three wickets for just 29 runs in the first six overs, as Mitchell Starc was showing his class. The Australian bowlers showed great discipline in the encounter to restrict the opponents to 125/9 in the 20 overs, to open their account with a successful 39-run victory.
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‘I thought someone was calling me back’ – David Warner
David Warner scored a slow fifty in that innings, he was dismissed on 56 runs in 51 balls, with the help of six boundaries and one six at a strike rate of 109.8. He also becomes the highest T20I run-getter for the Kangaroo side, going past the former captain Aaron Finch.
The left-handed opener now has smashed 3155 runs in the shortest format of the game in 104 innings at an average of 33.92, and a strike rate of 141.92, besides celebrating 27 fifties and one century with a best score of unbeaten 100-runs. He has also nailed 326 boundaries and 114 sixes in this format for the national team.
When it comes to his performance in the T20 World Cups, David Warner has smacked 862 runs in 35 innings to be the sixth-highest run-getter of the competition, at an average of 26.12, and a strike rate of 131.40, with seven half-centuries and a best score of unbeaten 89-runs. The pocket dynamo has smashed 92 fours and 32 sixes in this tournament history.
When asked about what exactly happened when he mistakenly headed towards the Oman dressing room, before being corrected, the 37-year-old spoke about being drained out and having no clue of what was going on at that point.
“I didn’t even notice. I was exhausted. So, I didn’t even think about it,” David Warner told reporters in Barbados. “I don’t even know what was happening. I thought someone was calling me back.”
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At the same ground, the Australian side will be taking on the defending champions England on June 08, as the opener talked about looking forward to the battle with Mark Wood and Jofra Archer, both of whom are really quick with the expressive pace.
“You just have to use their pace. Test cricket they set different fields, different balls,” David Warner expressed. “In Twenty20 cricket, you only have to get half an edge p it and it can go. So, there is a fair difference.”
England are coming into the game on the back of their washout result against Scotland at the same venue. Their bowling too looked quite under par as they failed to break the opening stand of the opponents for the 10 overs, giving away 90 runs. They will look to register their first win of the tournament.