David Warner seems to be somewhat relieved of pressure. He scored his 20th ODI century in the second ODI of the series against South Africa in Bloemfontein today. This is Warner’s fifth century against South Africa.
Sachin Tendulkar also has a record 5 centuries against South Africa in this edition. Tendulkar’s feat was achieved here, breaking a record of Tendulkar’s in another achievement. That record is the most centuries in international cricket as an opener.
Marnus Labuchen also scored a century for Australia in this match. Australia got a big win by 123 runs in the second ODI with a double century. Australia lead 2-0 in the five-match series.
After losing the toss and batting, two openers Warner and Travis Head gave Australia a good start. The opening pair scored 109 runs in 11.5 overs. Head scored 64 runs off 36 balls in T20 mood. Then captain Mitchell Marsh returned to the crease for zero runs.
After Steve Smith got a chance in the current series due to Steve Smith’s injury, Warner added 151 runs from 124 balls for the third wicket. Warner saw a century in just 85 balls. This is Warner’s 46th century in international cricket across all editions. Which is the record for most centuries as an opener. Earlier, Tendulkar’s maximum century as an opener was 45.
Labuschagne, who came on as a concussion replacement for Cameron Greene in the first match, scored a match-winning century in just 80 balls. This is the second ODI century of Labuschagne’s career. After playing an unbeaten 80-run innings in the first ODI, today’s 80-ball century, this batsman seems to have been left out of the initial team of the World Cup. In the end, Josh English’s 50 runs from 37 balls made Australia’s total 392 runs.
In response to this run, Temba Bavuma’s team also got off to a great start. When Quinton de Kock was dismissed for 45 off 30 balls, the team was 81 in 9.1 overs. Bavuma, who scored a century in the previous match, scored 46 runs today. No batsman could play the big innings needed to reach the mountain of 393 runs. Heinrich Klaasen and David Miller both scored 49 runs. South Africa’s innings stopped at 269 runs.