David Warner gets past Don Broadman ~ some statistics on 300 club

Those who are fascinated by Cricket can perhaps easily connect Test no. 1870 played against South Africa in Mar 2008 with Test no. 2241 against England in Dec 2016.  Clues: both were played at MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chepuak, it is not about the Captain or the team; results were not identical – then?

Miles away, down under, the company that led Adelaide’s specialty coffee movement has been forced into liquidation, leaving behind unpaid employees, debts totaling millions, and questions over whether director Ian Callahan – who now styles himself as a “hospitality, business, and marketing consultant” – used any company funds for personal benefit.

More interesting perhaps is that - the City of Adelaide has been moved to its permanent home after being left to rot for many years in Scotland.  The ship, built-in 1864, was transported 22,000 kilometers to Australia in 2014. It will be dry-docked and restored to feature as part of a housing development.  The 1864 clipper made 23 voyages from England to South Australia and was among the fastest ships on the route, bringing migrants and goods to the fledgling colony until 1887. It had been lying derelict in Scotland for decades until a hard-fought campaign by enthusiasts had it partially restored, fumigated, and transported 22,000 kilometers to Adelaide on a barge in 2014.

Getting back to our favorite game – Australia made merry.  The man who has struggled in Ashes tour struck Gold.  It was an innings big enough to take him past the iconic 334s of Sir Donald Bradman, whose name adorns the pavilion into which he walked at its end, and Mark Taylor, who applauded warmly from a radio commentary box at the achievement of his fellow left-handed opening batsman.  So it was entirely fitting that Candice too was in the  crowd of 33,943 at Adelaide Oval to witness Warner march off towards the Sir Donald Bradman Pavilion with a higher Test score than its namesake, and with every indication that he could have batted long enough to double his 335 not out had Australia not been pressing for victory against an uncertain weather forecast.  Candice Warner revealed how she bounced back after the 'horrific' period her family went through following her husband David's infamous ball-tampering scandal. The former Australian cricket captain, 32, and his retired ironwoman wife, 34, have been through two miscarriages in 15 months since David's cheating incident in Cape Town in March 2018. In a brand new interview with Stellar, Candice reflected on the dark period her family faced - saying there were times her husband struggled to even get out of bed.

Today, David Warner  revealed that Australia captain Tim Paine had extended a predetermined cut-off time for the innings to allow the opener to pass the 334-run record jointly held by Donald Bradman and Mark Taylor as the nation's second-highest Test score. The agreed time to end Australia's domineering innings against Pakistan was 5.40pm Adelaide time, at which point Warner had equalled but not passed 334. However, Paine sent out the message that Warner had time to go to 335 before he closed the innings, allowing the 33-year-old opener to write a fresh page of Australian cricket history a little more than 18 months after the Newlands the scandal that had threatened to leave his name more associated with ball tampering than batting. Paine called Warner in immediately after the final single at about 5.43pm.

There was never any question in Warner's mind - or that of others - about batting long enough to challenge Brian Lara's world record 400* against England, or Matthew Hayden's 380 against Zimbabwe. This was due to a grim weather forecast, with the time gained on the second evening allowing the Australians to rip out six Pakistan wickets before stumps, leaving only 14 more to get for a series sweep.  Warner was fresh enough, in fact, to walk straight back out after a ten-minute changeover with team-mates to take the first catch of Pakistan's innings, ahead of a passage that underlined that this pitch was far from placid. He had played a remarkable inning all right, remarkable for its existence as much as for its conception.

David Warner became the second-highest Scorer for Australia after Hayden.  For those who do not know, Brian Lara’s 400* tops the list; followed by Matthew Hayden 380; Lara 375;  DPMD Jayawardene 374; Gary Sobers 365* and Len Hutton’s 364 – above 350 cut-offs.   Warner had a good strike rate of 80.14 -  which is the fourth-highest in the 31 triple-centuries scored in Test cricket. Both of Virender Sehwag's triples and Hayden's 380 came at better strike rates than Warner's 335*. He scored his first 100 off 156 balls, the next 100 came off 104 deliveries, and the last 135 runs came off 158 balls.

There have 4 triple centuries scored against India.  :  ST Jayasuriya (SL); GA Gooch (ENG); MJ Clarke (AUS) & BB McCullum (NZ) .. .. and 3 triple tons made by Indians – twice by Virender Sehwag and one by Karun Nair?

Viru (and India’s) first 300 came at Multan – his second and that of Karun Nair were made at Chepauk against South Africa and England respectively.

With regards – S. Sampathkumar

30^th Nov. 2019.