Melbourne: Australian opener David Warner, who played his first match after returning from an elbow injury, scored a sensational knock of 110 but it was not enough for his side to win in the New South Wales Premier Cricket.
Warner was at his best, dishing out his typical belligerent treatment to club level bowlers. The opener blasted 110 runs from just 77 deliveries but his team Randwick-Petersham collapsed to 219 all out, losing the match against Penrith by 94 runs.
Warner, whose team was given a target of 314, came out all guns blazing and ended up smashing seven sixes and four fours in his 77-ball onslaught.
The opener, along with former captain Steve Smith and opener Cameron Bancroft, faced a one-year ban for their involvement in the ball-tampering saga in the Test match against South Africa. The ban is scheduled to expire on March 28 and both Warner and Smith are expected to participate in the Indian Premier League, scheduled to begin on March 23.
Australia’s National Selection Panel chairman Trevor Hohns said he would like to see how Warner and Smith perform after returning from their respective bans.
“We all know they are two of the better players in world cricket. So it is only natural we will take them seriously into consideration when we pick our World Cup squad,” cricket.com.au quoted Hohns, as saying.”The main thing for them and us is to have them playing competitive cricket.”
Both Warner and Smith will look to score runs in the IPL to go into the World Cup with good form behind them.
[source_without_link]ANI[/source_without_link]