David Warner's brutal moment as Aussie cricket star's career ends at T20 World Cup
Warner's dismissal summed up a disappointing situation for Australia.
David Warner's last hurrah for Australia is not one the retiring cricket great will look back on fondly. Batting in what turned out to be his final innings in any format for Australia after Afghanistan's win over Bangladesh later on Tuesday, the 37-year-old opener was removed for just six as his side went down to India by 24 runs in the Super Eight stage of the T20 World Cup.
India superstar Rohit Sharma smashed 92 from 41 balls to help India reach 5-205 in St Lucia, before restricting Warner and the Aussies to 7-181 in reply, with Travis Head's 76 not enough to overhaul the Indian target. The Aussies needed Bangladesh to beat Afghanistan in Tuesday's (AEST) other Super Eight clash to have any hopes of progressing to a semi-final showdown against South Africa, but the Afghans prevailed in a rain-affected thriller to eliminate Australia from the tournament.
The Aussies needed Bangladesh to win by less than 62 runs, or with under 7.3 overs to spare and after several rain delays against Afghanistan they fell just eight runs short. In truth, Australia's shock defeat to Afghanistan in their previous match came back to bite Mitch Marsh's side and the skipper couldn't hide his disappointment after the match against India.
"It's disappointing. We're still technically a chance to go through to the semis but today, India got the better of us," Marsh said before the Afghans ended their hopes later in the day in Kingston. "Ultimately they were the better team."
The reality was even more brutal considering the situation around the retiring Warner, who will walk away as the greatest multi-format batter in Australia's history. Warner has been a mainstay in Australian cricket sides for well over a decade, with the T20 World Cup being his international swansong after already retiring from Test and ODI cricket. The veteran batter has scored a respectable 178 runs at this tournament but managed just nine runs in his last two innings after being removed for three in the previous defeat against Afghanistan.
David Warner out cheaply in sad World Cup scenes
Warner was once again out cheaply after edging one off India's Arshdeep Singh in the first over. To make matters worse, it came in front of a small crowd in St Lucia and in the early hours of the morning in Australia, when only the most die-hard of supporters were likely to have been watching on Prime's pay TV coverage. And the sad reality was not lost on his teammates and cricket fans.
“We’ll definitely miss him around the group, out on the field and off the field. He’s had an amazing all-format career,” Aussie quick Josh Hazlewood said about Warner after the match. “We’ve had Test cricket and ODI cricket and now T20s. You’ve gotten used to it a bit in New Zealand (not having Warner there). It’s always different when you lose a player that’s been there for so long. We’ll move on and push forward.”
Could there be a more understated finish for one of Australia's most prolific ever batsmen, if Aussies are knocked out?
David Warner out for 6 in front of a small crowd in St Lucia.
2:40am in Australia, with the match only available for streaming on Amazon Prime. #T20WorldCup— Scott Bailey (@ScottBaileyAAP) June 24, 2024
This could be David Warner's last innings in an Australian shirt 💔💔💔#tapmad #HojaoADFree #T20WorldCup pic.twitter.com/X5cERASRwD
— Muhammad Noman (@noman00019) June 24, 2024
If this is really the end of
David Warner , then goodbye to one of the best all format batters .
Was a big part of our childhood
Good luck for your second innings @davidwarner31 pic.twitter.com/mLUaiMOZqU— Anzar_18 (@alakhsirera) June 24, 2024
Rohit Sharma powers India to victory with superb knock
The Aussies were always up against it at St Lucia's Daren Sammy Stadium after Rohit's dazzling 92 set up India's comfortable victory. Rohit showed his intent by belting 29 runs in the third over off the recalled Mitchell Starc, who replaced spinner Ashton Agar after being rested against Afghanistan. Starc (2-45), Pat Cummins (0-48), Adam Zampa (0-41) and Marcus Stoinis (2-56) also went for more than 10 runs an over as the Indians ran riot. Rohit's 19-ball 50 marked the fastest ever against Australia.
RELATED:
Pat Cummins creates World Cup history after 'unthinkable' act
Pucovski 'not expected to return' in sad retirement development
Only Hazlewood was able to slow India down with his figures of 1-14 and the key wicket of Virat Kohli for a duck. Starc also did well to rebound late on after bowling Rohit with a yorker that hit both bat and pad on the way through, but by that stage the damage was largely done by India.
Following Warner's first over dismissal, Head went about his business and Marsh offered hope of a captain's knock with 37 from 28 balls, before falling to a spectacular Axar Patel catch on the boundary. Glenn Maxwell also threatened to provide Head the support he needed when he struck 15 off his first four balls.
But Maxwell was undone by a Kuldeep Yadav (2-24) wrong'un on 20, with Australia's chase faltering after the all-rounder was bowled. Head threatened to repeat his ODI World Cup final heroics against India from last year but was eventually caught trying to take on Jasprit Bumrah and Australia's lower order failed to fire as they limped to 20 overs well short of India's total.
"We had belief when you think about who we had in the changerooms," Marsh said. "If you can keep it at 10 (needed an over) for as long as you possibly can, you're well and truly in the game. But India had some class bowlers at the end that were too good for us."
with AAP