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On Tuesday, February 13, David Warner confirmed that he has played his last international match in Australia after turning up in the third and final T20I of the series against West Indies. The 37-year-old played a highly enterprising innings of 81 in pursuit of the 221-run target against West Indies, but despite that, Australia lost by 37 runs.
At the Optus Stadium in Perth, the West Indies captain Rovman Powell decided to bat first after winning the toss, but they lost three of the top-order wickets inside the first three overs. But Sherfane Rutherford and Andre Russell put together a 139-run stand for the sixth wicket, scoring their respective half-centuries, to help propel the team’s total to 220/6.
Although chasing down 221 runs was steep, David Warner, who was playing his final innings in Australia, kept his side well in the contest until he stayed at the crease. He dominated the partnerships over 50, with fellow opener Mitchell Marsh, and then with Aaron Hardie for the second wicket, to take the Australian total to 114/1 in the 13th over.
But then, the West Indies bowlers picked up three wickets in quick succession, including the one of David Warner, who was caught on the leg side boundary by Andre Russell off the bowling of Roston Chase while trying to execute a slog sweep. The final innings for David Warner in Australia ended after he scored 81 runs off just 49 balls, which included nine fours and three sixes.
After David Warner’s dismissal, the Australian batting innings kept on losing momentum, and they were nowhere near reaching the 221-run target despite Tim David’s 41 off 19.
In his post-match comments, the 37-year-old spoke about how he is “well and truly done” in regards to playing international cricket in Australia. He also remarked that the time is now for the youngsters to come through and showcase their talent for Australia in the shortest format of the game.
David Warner has already retired from Test and ODI formats for Australia, and he is expected to play his last international match for his country during the T20 World Cup 2024 in the Caribbean and the USA.
