David Warner credits IPL stint for his continued ODI success
Warner’s extraordinary 163 helped set his team up for a 62-run win that sends Australia fourth in the table, and his knock means Warner has now scored 150+ in three consecutive Cricket World Cups.
Match highlights as Australia won their ICC Men's Cricket World Cup contest against Pakistan at the Chinnaswamy Stadium by a margin of 62 runs.
The 36-year-old says the secret to his prolonged ODI success has been embracing just how long a fifty-over innings really is.
“Yeah, look, for me, I think what I've established early on in my career is that 50 overs is a long time,” the veteran said. “And having played Test cricket, you actually can take that out there and change your gears quite easily.
“So, in the first 10, two new balls, you’ve got to respect that. But then if you get away, you can get on top of it and then you can be 50 off the first 10. And then from there, you set the platform for yourself and that's the energy you feed off. And then you look to try and bat.”
Digital Daily looks at Australia continuing their surge with a win over Pakistan at the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2023 with former West Indies pacer Ian Bishop and ICC Digital Insider Radhakrish
Warner believes that he has become even more adept at accelerating through his innings, and credits his time in the IPL for helping him hone that part of his game.
“I look to try and get to 35 overs and then from there, try and put my foot down if I'm still in. So, yeah, it's probably in the back of your mind, you've got a lot more time.
“I think that's where in T20 cricket, I've learned a little bit as well to change my gears, especially in IPL. I learned a lot when I was playing for Sunrisers that you're able to have a lot more time than you think. And I think playing on these surfaces specifically, you know, if you give yourself time at the back end, you can actually score big. And that's what I felt today.
“We missed a little bit with the bat. We set our platform up very, very well, and we didn't execute as well as we like as a batting unit to post what I thought – 400 was probably on the cards from where we were.”
Player of the match highlights as David Warner slammed the highest score so far at the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2023 during the Australia and Pakistan clash
Warner’s stunning century came as part of an opening stand of 259 with fellow centurion Mitchell Marsh, with the pair’s effort setting a new first-wicket record for Australia’s men at Cricket World Cups.
And Warner’s century means he has now scored hundreds in each of his last four ODI appearances against Pakistan.
Australia's openers were at their very best against Haris Rauf in Bengaluru.
“I think sometimes you just match up well against certain teams,” he said. “They’re going to bowl you good balls, and sometimes you're going to put away those good balls. But I think you just keep backing yourself.
“I don't really look at any stats or I don't look at anything of which team I have success against or not. It just so happens to be that I've scored, as you said, four consecutive hundreds, which I didn't know about until they came up. But for me, it's going out there and just doing my best every time I go out there.
“I think for me, I'll probably even look at someone like Shaheen Shah Afridi and think, oh, he probably has my measure a little bit. But he doesn't.
“They're the guys that you try and watch as hard as you can, left arm swinging at about 140 Ks. It can be a difficult task to try and take on but I don't really have the answer to give you but just go out there and try my best against each opposition.”
Warner and Australia will return to action against Netherlands in Delhi on Wednesday.