AUS vs SA: David Warner joins an elite club with a century in his 100th Test

After nearly three years, Australian superstar David Warner ended his century drought on Tuesday (December 27) and etched his name in record books. The ongoing Boxing Day Test against South Africa is Warner’s 100th match in the red-ball format, and by scoring a ton, the New South Wales cricketer became only the 10th batter in the history of cricket to hit a century in his 100th Test.

Warner joined an elite league to achieve the unique milestone, becoming just the second Australian to do so after Ricky Ponting, who is the only player to score twin hundreds in his 100th Test. Warner also became only the second player to reach a triple-figure mark in both his 100th ODI as well as 100th Test, after the legendary West Indies cricketer Gordon Greenidge. It was Warner’s 25th Test century and 45th in the international arena. He became the eighth Australian to go past the 8000 Test runs benchmark during the course of his innings.

Notably, it was Warner’s first Test century since January 2020 and his first 50-plus score in the longest format in 11 innings since his previous half-century against Pakistan in Lahore earlier this year. It was just his second international century in all formats since January 2020.

Players to hit a century in their 100th Test match:

• Colin Cowdrey (England), 1968
• Javed Miandad (Pakistan), 1989
• GC Greenidge (West Indies), 1990
• Alec Stewart (England), 2000
• Inzamam ul Haq (Pakistan), 2005
• Ricky Ponting (2) (Australia), 2006
• Graeme Smith (South Africa), 2012
• Hashim Amla (South Africa), 2017
• Joe Root (England), 2021
• DAVID WARNER (Australia), 2022*

Ahead of the Boxing Day game in Melbourne Cricket Ground, Warner had given hints to return to his old form and end the century drought. Warner had cited the instance of his last international century that came against England in November, stating that people were writing him off then, but he came back and hit a ton.

“If anything, I can probably be a bit more aggressive and go back to the older me, take them on a little bit more. But I think that also is dictated from what wickets you are getting. People [were] writing me off in that one-day game here [against England] and I went out and scored a hundred on a pretty dicey wicket. It is about making runs. You’re never out of form,” Warner had said while talking to reporters on the eve of his 100th Test.

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December 27, 2022 at 10:50AM