Time for youngsters, says Warner after final home game
David Warner smashed 81 off 49 balls in the 3rd T20I against the West Indies. Warner was named the Player of the Series.
Senior batter David Warner addressed his T20I future after Australia were outplayed by West Indies in the third and final T20I of the bilateral series on Tuesday. The veteran opener top-scored for the hosts in the dead rubber between Australia and the Men from the Caribbean at the Perth Stadium. Mitchell Marsh's Australia arrived in Perth after hammering the West Indies in the first two games of the T20I series.
Australia outclassed the former world champions by 11 runs in the series opener. Warner played a match-winning knock of 70 off 36 balls to help Australia take a 1-0 lead over the Men from the Caribbean. The Aussie opener was dismissed for 22 off 19 balls in the 2nd T20I which saw Glenn Maxwell smashing a record-setting century (120*) to set up a 34-run win for the Men from the Down Under.
Continuing his impressive run in the final match of the series, Warner played a stroke-filled knock of 81 off 49 balls. Warner smacked nine fours and hammered three sixes in his fighting knock against Rovman Powell and Co. in the Perth encounter. However, Warner's batting masterclass failed to rescue Australia as West Indies defeated the hosts by 37 runs to earn a consolation win. After the match, opener Warner confirmed that he played his final match for the former world champions in Australia at Perth.
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"Good to see the boys play. I've got a lot of time off after the next series in New Zealand before the IPL and then to get ready for the T20 World Cup. Great to spend quality time with my kids and just be home. I was surprised that an opening bowler bowling 145+ wasn't trying to get me out. The boundaries arent too big in the Caribbean. Im well and truly done, we've got so many youngsters, its time for them to do the job," said Warner, who was named the Player of the Series.
Warner has played 112 Tests, 161 One Day Internationals (ODIs) for Australia. The 37-year-old made his T20I debut against South Africa at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in 2009. Warner has 3067 runs under his belt in the shortest format. He is the seventh international batter to cross the 3000-run mark in T20Is.
