Stats: Warner equals Sachin with 45th ton as opener

There were a lot of questions on David Warner’s future. But, with an unbeaten double century against South Africa at the MCG, he silenced the naysayers. It has been a long wait of 27 innings without a century for the dashing opener.

As soon as he registered his double century, Warner walked off owing to a hamstring injury and he came out to bat. En route his innings, Warner registered few records and here is a list:

Warner on level with Sachin

Most of his innings, Warner has batted as an opener and today he has equaled the great Sachin Tendulkar. In international cricket, Warner reached the three-figure mark for the 45th time. All his centuries have come as an opener. He has 25 tons in Tests, 19 in ODIs and one in T20Is.

With that he now has the joint-most 100s among openers in international cricket. However, Sachin’s all 45 came in one single format (ODIs). In Tests he opened only once.  

Second batter to score a double in the 100th Test

When Warner registered his century on day two of the second Test against South Africa, he became the 10th batter to hit a 100 in his 100th Test. Among Australians, he is the second after Ricky Ponting (120 & 143) against the same team in 2006 in Sydney.

Among openers, he is the third to achieve this feat. Gordon Greenidge against England in 1990 in St John’s and Graeme Smith against England in 2012 at the Oval are the others on the list.

When Warner went on to score a double century, he became the second batter in Tests after Joe Root against India in 2021 in Chennai, to hit a double ton in his 100th match.

Oldest Aussie opener to score a double ton

At the age of 36 years and 60 days (at the start of the match), Warner became the first Australian opener to hit a double ton after turning 35. Previously, the oldest was Justin Langer in 2004 against New Zealand (34 years and five days).

Adding on, this was Warner’s third double century in Tests, which is the joint most for an Australian opener. Bob Simson also had three as an opener.

Home advantage extended

We all know that Warner in his backyard is a different player. Despite the declining form, he has maintained an average of 60.2 in home Tests.

Among openers who have scored 1500+ runs in home Tests, only Herbert Sutcliffe of England, has a better average (64.6). On route to his unbeaten knock of 200, Warner became the fourth opener to score 5000+ runs in home Tests.

For Australia, in terms of centuries, only Ricky Ponting and Matthew Hayden have more home centuries than Warner. He went past Sir Don Bradman’s tally of 18.

In this innings, Warner also went past the 8,000 mark in Tests. By virtue of it, he was the eighth Australian and only the second Australian opener after Hayden to reach this landmark in the longest format.

The drought comes to an end

As mentioned earlier, after playing 27 innings, Warner registered a century. In Tests, this is the longest he had played without one. Before this, the longest interval between centuries for Warner was 23 innings between November 2012 to August 2013.

Overall, among Australian openers who have scored five or more centuries, his 27 innings are the joint third biggest gap. Colin McDonald from June 1956 till January 1959 and Matthew Hayden from October 2004 till August 2005, had a gap of 30 innings before registering one, which is the longest.