Friday in Bengaluru was one of those David Warner days. Sure, he got glitter-bombed by the Luck Fairy when he was on 10, his second attacking swing of the bat looping to mid on where it was wildly, impossibly dropped by Usama Mir. But from there he savaged Pakistan’s bowling with a purity of hitting well matched in power and variety.
His cut shots rasped through one side, his pull shots the other. One hybrid scooping pick-up stroke sent the ball 98 metres long and seemingly as high, ending with Warner on one knee outside his off stump and the ball hitting the top rim of the Chinnaswamy roof before bouncing back into the crowd. Better than anything, in a way, were the shots over long off and long on: simple straight arcs clearing the sight screen time and again.
