Warner enjoying new middle order role

Cricket365
March 9, 2016

Australia batsman David Warner has taken to his new role in the middle order like a duck to water, and was pleased to be able to combat the spin of Imran Tahir in the second T20 against South Africa.

Warner has moved down the order from his usual opening slot in this series, to make room for more batsmen and to put a strong player of spin at four, and it paid off at the Wanderers as he made a vital 77.

Australia won off the final ball thanks to Warner and Glenn Maxwell's half centuries, chasing 205 to win. Warner was especially brutal against Tahir, who had taken three wickets in the previous match.

The new number four said: "The fortunate thing for us was that I was in and we had a left-hand, right-hand combination, that's what we try and do when you have a spinner who spins it away from the right-hander.

"We've only got myself and Ussie [Usman Khawaja] and when he's in the team he's at the top and I'm in the middle.

"It's a great role for me to play and it was my role to try and take him (Tahir) on today, he bowled a couple of wrong 'uns and I managed to get under them.

"Then he bowled back-of-a-length to us both which was quite hard to hit so we had to decide where we would score and that was to target straight. The conditions didn't suit him as much today."

As for the reasoning behind the batting shake-up, Warner explained: "We looked at the way the boys were playing in the Big Bash and ways to get people in the team.

"Talking to Steve and Boof [Lehmann], and what the selectors felt, the key component was to have those three at the top with me and Steve in the middle. I'm comfortable with that if that's what Steve wants."