NEW DELHI:
David Warner
surpassed former captain
Aaron Finch
to become the highest run-scorer for
Australia
in T20 Internationals. Warner achieved the feat during Australia's
T20 World Cup
opener against Oman on Thursday.
Warner scored 56 off 51 balls, adorned with six boundaries and one six, on a tricky surface where he adopted a cautious approach to settle in before opening up his arms.
This knock took his tally to 3,155 runs in 104 matches, surpassing Finch's record of 3,120 runs in 103 matches.
The seasoned opener effectively negated Oman's spin threat and raised his bat for the 27th T20I fifty of his career by coming down the track and sending the ball into the stands. Warner was eventually dismissed by Oman's right-arm pacer Kaleemullah, mistiming a shot to the fielder at long-off.
Warner's milestone fifty also saw him surpass former West Indies opener
Chris Gayle
, who has 110 fifties in T20 cricket. Warner now leads with 111 fifties, while India's
Virat Kohli
is the closest competitor with 105 fifties.
During the match, Warner forged a crucial 102-run stand with
Marcus Stoinis
, helping Australia post a competitive total of 164/5. Stoinis played a pivotal role, scoring an unbeaten 67 off 36 deliveries, including two fours and six sixes. His powerful hitting accelerated Australia’s innings from a precarious 50/3 in the 9th over.
Stoinis' innings also saw him surpass the 1,000-run mark in T20Is for Australia, becoming just the eighth Australian batter to achieve this feat. He now has 1,007 runs in 60 matches, with an average of 31.46 and a strike rate of 147.22.
Australia's victory over Oman, bolstered by Warner and Stoinis’ performances, marks a strong start to their T20 World Cup campaign and adds another feather to Warner’s illustrious cap in the shortest format of the game.
(With inputs from ANI)
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