The veteran David Warner made a sensational return to international cricket by smashing a quickfire fifty against West Indies in the first T20I match on Friday, February 9. Warner led Australia to a thrilling 11-run win against the Caribbean side to take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series at home.
Warner, playing his first international match since announcing retirement from Tests and ODIs a month ago, captained the team in the opening game against West Indies at Bellerive Oval in Hobart. Warner opened an innings with in-form Josh Inglis and top-scored with 70 runs off 36 balls.
The 37-year-old legend took only 21 balls to reach the 50-run mark and became the first-ever cricketer in the world to achieve 100 fifties in T20 cricket. Warner also emulated legendary Virat Kohli and Ross Taylor to become the only third cricketer to play 100 or more international matches across each format.
Ross Taylor achieved this historic feat in February 2020 and then Kohli became the first Indian to play the 100th match in all three formats in 2022. Now Warner became the first Australian cricketer to hundred matches in all three formats and celebrated the special occasion with a massive fifty.
Warner played 112 Tests and 161 ODI matches for Australia scoring over 15,000 runs. He registered his 25th T20I fifty and is closing in on a 3,000-run mark in T20Is as well.
Meanwhile, Warner's heroics boosted Australia to a total of 213/7 while batting first on Friday. Tim David also added a quick 37 off 14 balls and in-form Inglis smashed 39 off 25 balls. Then West Indies also enjoyed an impressive start with Brandon King smashing a fifty and Johnson Charles adding 42 off 25 balls. But three wickets from Adam Azama and two from Marcus Stoinis helped Australia restrict West Indies to 202/8 and took a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.
