Patient Warner terms Chittagong ton as his best

Australia vice captain David Warner admitted that his century against Bangladesh in the second and final Test match at Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium is definitely among his best innings in terms of patience as the conditions were one of the hottest he has ever played in. Warner was not out on 88 after day two and added 35 more runs on day three, picking up his 20th Test century in the port city on Wednesday.

David Warner used 16 balls to move from 99 to 100. Since 2000, just one Aussie's has taken more balls to get to 100. Clarke(25) Cape Town'14

— Mazher Arshad (@MazherArshad) September 6, 2017

“I think from a patience point of view, definitely it was my best ton. I always talk about trying to bat long periods for time in these conditions and by far that's the hottest I've ever played in. It was quite challenging to be out there. Coming off [Tuesday], it was every minute that I was out there. We were out there for 100 overs the day before,” Warner told the media after the day’s play.

A gritty hundred from @davidwarner31! His 20th Test ton comes off 209 balls with just five boundaries: https://t.co/swgJilHtMN #BANvAUS pic.twitter.com/FIzlk6s64b — cricket.com.au (@CricketAus) September 6, 2017

“A lot of credit has to go to the two fast bowlers as well. The amount of work that they've put in, I think they've both bowled 20 overs apiece in this heat. It takes someone with some good fitness to bowl through that definitely,” he said. Warner’s track record was not good in Asia before the Bangladesh Tests but back-to-back hundreds indicate his growing maturity in challenging sub-continent conditions.

CENTURY! ? Back-to-back tons for @davidwarner31. Outstanding! That's his 20th in Test cricket and his sixth away from home #BANvAUS pic.twitter.com/kFg8pDDH3M — cricket.com.au (@CricketAus) September 6, 2017

“It’s a tough environment to come out and try to play your shots and play your natural game. You have to find a way and for me it’s taken almost 16, 17 Tests in these conditions to work out what my game plan is and stick to it. As I said before, if they play on your ego a little bit, they shut down your runs, they shut down your boundary options, and you’ve got find the ones,” Warner explained. “You’ve got to be prepared to bat time and you’ve got to have the fitness edge as well to do that. That’s probably the thing that’s going to keep motivating me more now to show to myself that I’ve done that, and now moving forward I can achieve the same success that I’ve had so far over here moving down the line,” he added.

Back-to-back ?'s for @davidwarner31...just brilliant. His 20th test ton. #BANvAUS #congratulations ?? — Tom Moody (@TomMoodyCricket) September 6, 2017

In the process he became the sixth Australia player after Bob Simpson, Allan Border, Damien Martyn, Mike Hussey (twice) and Michael Clarke to hit consecutive Test hundreds in Asia. But Warner said he is focusing more on team performance rather than personal milestone.

David Warner today went 73 consecutive balls without a boundary, his longest stretch in an inns in Tests. Prev: 64 balls, Cape Town, 2014.

— Mazher Arshad (@MazherArshad) September 5, 2017

“It is satisfying for myself but at the end of the day we're here to win games. I’m doing myself and the team as much favours as I can by trying to put on runs, as everyone else is. At the moment we've got a lead of 77 (72) I think it is, so we've got to try and capitalise on that [Thursday] morning to push forward for maybe a 100 (run lead),” he concluded.