First Test day two LIVE: Australia eye big first-innings total in the west
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- Welcome to day two
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Welcome to day two
Afternoon Richie, afternoon all,
Day two of the Perth Test coming at you with local favourite Mitch Marsh at the crease, joined by Alex Carey and Pakistan doing very Pakistan things on day one before rallying late.
Australia hold a commanding position at 5-346 and can smell a 500-plus total already. Early wickets in the first hour are the order of the day for the visitors, if they can keep the hosts to something sub-475 Pakistan can claim a bit of momentum going into their first innings. It’s a big if though.
Malcolm Conn and Dan Brettig are on the ground in the west, I’m in the chair until stumps and play begins at 1.20pm AEDT. Let’s go.
Shoosh: Warner’s pointed celebration aimed at critics
David Warner’s century celebration was even more extravagant than usual as he raised his gloved finger “for a nice little quiet shoosh” to the Perth Stadium media centre while dominating for Australia on the opening day of the first Test against Pakistan.
He was eventually out caught at deep square leg for 164 attempting another outrageous flick over fine leg. Warner faced 211 balls, hitting 16 fours and four sixes, with Australia going to stumps a short time later at 5-346.
“Anyone who wants to write stories about me and get headlines, that stuff doesn’t bother me. It’s just the fact that I have to go out there, do what I have to do. And I’m allowed to celebrate how I want,” Warner said after play.
His first century since Boxing Day last year came less than a fortnight after a savage newspaper column by former teammate Mitchell Johnson accused Warner of “arrogance and disrespect” towards Australian cricket.
“Mitch is entitled to his opinion. He’s a former player,” Warner said.
Commentating for Triple M, Johnson said “no mate” when asked by this masthead if he had any response to Warner’s century celebrations. Later on radio he said: “I have given my opinion. I have said what I have said, and we move on.”
“I don’t feel any extra pressure,” Warner said. “I don’t feel any other points I have to prove.”
Read the full story here.
Poll: How many will Australia score today?
Analysis: Warner’s millionaire play straight out of IPL
David Warner’s extraordinary scoop to Pakistan’s pace ace Shaheen Afridi was the shot of an IPL millionaire to a dime-a-dozen Test delivery.
There was a time when a fast bowler could be confident that a delivery aimed at the top of off would command the respect of a dead bat or thunder into the gloves of the keeper. In 2023, its final resting place could be in the stands.
Even in this turbocharged era, the gasps that echoed around the quarter-full Optus Stadium told of the crowd’s astonishment that Warner, despite a man placed in the fine leg region, had attempted such an audacious shot – and hit it flush despite misreading the length.
The pyrotechnic world of Twenty20, or the frenetic final overs of a one-day international, is the natural habitat of the ramp shot – not the first morning of a Test match.
David Warner was left flat on his back playing a ramp shot for six.Credit: Getty
Brad Haddin, who retired only eight years ago, said he had never thought of playing such a shot during his career. And he was not stodgy at all. In Australia’s infamous capitulation for 47 at Cape Town in 2011, the wicketkeeper/batter got out backing away to play an inside-out cover drive. The score was 5-18.
“The thought process about the modern player to score and bring 360 [degrees] into the equation is phenomenal,” Haddin said on Triple M. “That ball was top of off, going away, well bowled, to think of dropping your leg, ramp over fine leg – [it’s] extraordinary skill.”
Read the full story here.
Welcome to day two
Afternoon Richie, afternoon all,
Day two of the Perth Test coming at you with local favourite Mitch Marsh at the crease, joined by Alex Carey and Pakistan doing very Pakistan things on day one before rallying late.
Australia hold a commanding position at 5-346 and can smell a 500-plus total already. Early wickets in the first hour are the order of the day for the visitors, if they can keep the hosts to something sub-475 Pakistan can claim a bit of momentum going into their first innings. It’s a big if though.
Malcolm Conn and Dan Brettig are on the ground in the west, I’m in the chair until stumps and play begins at 1.20pm AEDT. Let’s go.
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