Warner too Slow

Out of all the Australian batsman, David Warner is the last who I would have expected to be criticising for batting too slowly in a one dayer.

But in yesterday’s loss to Sri Lanka Warner scored his 100 runs off 140 balls. On a flat Adelaide Oval wicket, it was too slow and contributed significantly to Australia’s eventual defeat.

I believe there were two main things that tied him down on Tuesday. Firstly, Mahela Jayawardene set clever fields to restrict Warner. If you watched the game you would have noticed the cluster of men in the point area. Secondly, I think Warner had is mind set on scoring back to back hundreds, and with his milestone in mind, played cautiously to ensure the ton was brought up.

While scoring a hundred is a great feat in any game of cricket, in limited overs games it is not important. For example in a test you can take as long as you like to craft as many runs as you can, but in a one dayer, getting 20 less runs but wasting 60 less balls is often a lot more valuable than taking the time to bring up 100. This is what Warner was guilty of.

When 2 batsman score centuries in a 50 over game, with one of the being off 80 balls, 300 should be a certainty. Instead Australia finished in the 270s. The 40 balls separating Warner from a strike rate of a hundred could have also separated Australia from a win. If those 40 balls each had a run scored off them (and Clarke and the Sri Lankans proved that it was a-run-a-ball ground or better) Australia would have made over 300, giving them a psychological edge as well as bigger run buffer.

All this is giving me a sense of déjà vu… Watson did similar a couple of years back… Notice I was much harsher on Watto in that headline!

I don’t think there has been a similar instance of this from Watson since, he probably learnt from this experience and I expect Warner to do the same. Let’s just hope it doesn’t cost us the series!