Minnows run into great barrier

Warner hits 178 to help Australia post record WC total of 417; Afghanistan lose by 275 runs.

David Warner hit 19 fours and five sixes in his innings, the second highest by an Australian in ODI cricket. (Source: AP)

If cricket was an animated fairytale, mothers of pace bowlers around the world would narrate bedtime legends from the enchanting WACA while tucking in long-limbed rookies and patting away their dreamy minds. Most of these fact-checked bedtime stories, from the sea-side town of Perth, though, would have the ‘real hero’. (Full Coverage| Points table| Fixtures)

He is called Jeff Thomson. On some nights he would bowl a bouncer that would hit the sightscreen at first bounce. On others, Thommo would kick off a debate on the grass banks while getting ready to “roll up and go whang”- that’s how the tearaway had described his bowling. “That bloke next to wicket-keeper, is he slip or third man?” someone would say.

Three men from Afghanistan stepped on the WACA this morning. They were all six-feet tall. One had the flag painted on his cheeks, he was the first-change bowler Hamid Hasan. The new ball was shared by the intimidating Zadrans – Mr Long-hair Shapoor and Mr Trimmed-Beard Dawlat. All of them had heard about Thomson at WACA but not the kind you dared to ask if they were ever tucked in before sleep by their mums.

Around noon they would be training next to the central square, sweaty, warmed up, ready for their dream run on to the 22 yards with pronounced bounce and carry.

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Afghanistan captain Mohammad Nabi would win the toss, and the pace trio would get their chance. In the third over, Dawlat Zardan, the bearded one, would bowl a delivery that would make any 100-Test old bowler proud. Aaron Finch caught at first slip, Australia 14/1, it sounded like the first line of a fairy tale.

That’s when the Kaboom Kid, the little David Warner caricature that peeps from most children’s books sections here, changed the script. The five-foot-something stocky batsman was ruling the turf in the backyard of towering pacers. On the pitch that once carried Thommo’s short ones on one bounce to the sightscreen, Warner was whacking the ball to the stands and the grass banks. The early wicket didn’t really inspire the pace attack. By dusk time, the three tall pacers, between them, conceded 9 sixes and 24 fours. And by supper, Australia would record a monstrous 275-run win.

On road to record

Warner started his assault by hitting 3 fours in Hasan’s second and the game’s 10th over. Later he would hit two sixes and a four off Dawlat and another two sixes off Shapoor. At drinks, at the end of 33 overs, Warner was 156 and a lot was going through the mind of those at WACA.

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Many thought Rohit Sharma’s 264 was under threat. “He needs just a bit more than 100 in 17 overs,” they would say. Afghanistan skipper Nabi must’ve been wondering who he could turn to in the powerplay after the break. And in the dressing room Shane Watson would be pondering if life was even fair.

Given a chance, looking at the ease with which Warner was sending the ball over the fence, he too would have got runs and found his long-lost form. His record of the highest ODI score by an Australian, 185, too was under threat.

That was not to be as Shapoor would get Warner out, a slower ball getting the opener to edge a wild whack that went up really high towards the evening sky. It was the kind of skier, that usually gets dropped. It’s the kind of ‘life’ batsmen get on way to records. Skipper Nabi, though not in perfect position, kept his eyes on ball and cupped the ball. Warner, 178, had missed the Aussie record by a whisker and the world mark by a mile. Later, some copybook shots by Steven Smith and a series of unconventional reverse sweeps by Glen Maxwell would see Australia create a world record. The total of 417 was the highest score by any team at World Cups.

Phyrric victory

For many it was unusual to see the Afghanistan pacers’ animated celebrations at the fall of wickets amid the rain downpour. Hamid pumped fists, Shapoor let out a cry. But it was understandable, wickets at WACA were important. They would show the clips of these dismissals to their grandkids. By then technology to airbrush scores from tapes could well be easily available, rendering the context redundant.

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Back from the break, three tall Aussie pacers would mark their run-ups with the intent of rebuilding the hype around WACA. They needed to do something, for the man whose poster they had, stories they had heard. They would succeed. Mitchell Johnson, from the “roll up and go whang” school of pace bowling, would bowl short, would get carry and most importantly be intimidating. He would get 4 wickets, his two pace partners would get 4 more. Finally, at the WACA, pacers would regain their aura. But still it was the day of the Kaboom Kid.

Individual 300 possible in ODIs: Clarke

By: EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE

Perth: When David Warner was dismissed on 178, there were about 75 balls left in the Australian innings. This raised a question: How much could Warner have scored if the opener had carried his bat through? According to Australian skipper Michael Clarke, an individual 300 in ODI wasn’t a fantasy. “Someone like Davey or Chris Gayle or AB de Villiers on a smaller ground, I think they possibly could. You’d probably have to open the batting, say you’ve got the full 50 overs. I think, yeah, there’s a handful of players around the world who probably could do it. Hopefully it’s one of the Australians, not somebody against Australia who goes out and makes 300,” he said.

Clarke also commented on the spate of big scores at the World Cup and the reasons for it. He said the fielding restrictions and two new balls had a role to play in teams scoring 400 runs.

“I think Twenty20 cricket in general has helped a lot of players in regards to power, as in hitting fours and sixes, but also hitting balls to different areas. I think Glenn Maxwell was a great example of that today. You’ve seen obviously Davey, Chris Gayle, AB de Villiers, they hit 360 degrees, and with only four fielders out with a hard white cricket ball, it’s pretty sort of hard to stop those sort of guys on their day.”