Warner starts farewell series in style as Aussies amass big total

David Warner entered the first day of his farewell Test series facing questions about his ongoing tenure in Australia's men's team, and ended it engulfed in speculation as to how on earth he could possibly be replaced.

Warner's 164 in his team's score of 5-346 on day one of the first NRMA Insurance Test against Pakistan not only silenced the critics to whom he so pointedly gestured upon reaching his 26th Test century, it enshrined him as arguably his country's greatest opening bat.

Statistically, he remains 13 runs adrift of Matthew Hayden's Australia record for most runs as a Test opener (8625) but has at least two more innings in which to find that baker's dozen.

The 37-year-old also lifted his total Test runs tally to 8641, surpassing all-time greats the calibre of West Indies Viv Richards (8540), India's Virender Sehwag (8586) and his former Australia captain Michael Clarke (8643) to enter the top 25 runs scorers in the game's history.

Remarkably, his strike rate over that time (70.5 per 100 balls faced) is significantly higher than the second-placed member of that elite cohort using the same criteria with Brian Lara striking at a mere 60.5.

Warner's knock – his seventh score in excess of 150 in his 200th Test innings – was not without its flashes of luck amid the blazing shot-making.

He should have been caught at mid-on soon after posting his hundred off 125 deliveries, but Pakistan Test debutant Khurram Shahzad's speculative leap saw him get fingertips to the chance but not with sufficient contact to prevent the ball running to the rope.

And on 141 he offered another chance to luckless spinner Salman Ali Agha when he advanced down the pitch and was beaten, only for the stumping opportunity to deflect from keeper Sarfaraz Ahmed's shoulder and into the hands of first slip whose shy at the stumps yielded an overthrow.

But those blemishes were but passing clouds in a bright blue sky as the left-hander brought his trademark array of sweet timing, tireless scampering and flashes of audacity to a five-and-a-half-hour masterclass in how to set up a team's innings.

Upon reaching triple figures with an innovative uppercut to the deep third rope, Warner appended his now traditional victory leap and triumphant thrust of his removed batting helmet with a defiant hand-to-mouth motion aimed at media commentary boxes at Perth Stadium.

It was a clear signal of the veteran's views of criticism he's endured since announcing his planned retirement from Test cricket at the New Year's Test in his home town Sydney, with some suggesting he should not be afforded that indulgence after a lean tour of England during the winter.

"There's going to be criticism, but you've got to take that and there's no better way to silence them than by putting runs on the board," the opener told Fox Cricket as he left the field for the tea break.

The only celebration to rival Warner's came when he eventually miscued one of the daring leg-side flicks that were the defining images of his innings, with the resulting catch at deep backward square eliciting a prolonged double-fist pump from Pakistan seamer Aamir Jamal.

It was one of three wickets to fall in the final session as Australia looked to capitalise on Warner's rock-solid foundation by chasing runs, with World Cup hero Travis Head remaining in character by plundering a quick-fire 40 from 53 balls before also holing out.

In the 12 offshore Test innings Warner had played after announcing his intention to walk away from the red-ball game at the conclusion of this three-match campaign at Pakistan, he had scored 329 runs at an average of 27.4 with two half centuries.

But true to a career record that shows an average of almost 58 on Australia pitches compared to 33 away from home, Warner appeared an entirely different player from the moment he faced today's opening delivery.

In fairness, Pakistan's opening salvo bore little resemblance to the suffocating pressure Warner repeatedly found himself under from England's Stuart Broad during this year's Ashes tour when critics first began asking if his Test match use-by date might have already passed.

When the left-hander pushed the morning's third ball direct to Pakistan skipper Shan Masood at extra cover, and helped himself to his second single of the innings on the back of a lazy misfield, the tone for the day was set.

Initially it appeared Warner's opening partner and lifelong friend Usman Khawaja might usurp his mate's role as aggressor, taking 12 of the 14 runs that flowed from Pakistan spearhead Shaheen Shah Afridi's deflating first over albeit with a couple of fortuitous edges past third slip.

But normal transmission was resumed shortly after as Khawaja became becalmed while Warner got going with boundaries from consecutive deliveries of Shaheen's fourth over.

The opening pair's 50-stand arrived in just the 10th over when Warner proved his mastery against 24-year-old new-ball bowler Khurram on debut.

The milestone arrived via a neatly controlled square drive to the backward point boundary from Warner, who was batting outside his crease to try and counter the noticeable seam movement and playing the ball even further in front of his body in a show of bristling confidence.

However, there was no more extravagant show of that assurance than the extraordinary tumbling lap-sweep the left-hander unfurled against Shaheen that netted him six runs over fine leg.

It was the sort of stroke that might have seen an opening batter's career summarily ended if it was attempted in the opening session of a Test match in eras not-so-long gone, but was rightly celebrated as a feature of the modern game when it sailed into the crowd.

The level of complexity required to take the back-of-length delivery from outside off stump by collapsing the back leg and flicking it virtually from in front of his face saw Warner so full of exuberance he slashed wildly and unsuccessfully at Shaheen's follow-up offering.

By that stage, Pakistan's decision to opt for a four-pronged pace attack – including uncapped pair Khurram and Aamir – supplemented by the modest off-spin of batting all-rounder Salman Ali Agha was looking like something of a miscalculation.

Aamir's arrival at the bowling crease did little to stem the flow, with the 27-year-old sending down a wide and no-ball in a faltering first over at Test level.

And as if the bowlers' inability to consistently land balls in threatening places - on a pitch that did offer some seam movement – wasn't costly enough, the fielding example set by their skipper in the first over would yield a couple of costly dropped catches.

The first was a skied chance when Khawaja (on 21) miscued an attempted pull, but not only did opener Abdullah Shafique's running effort from first slip saw him fail to lay hand on the catch as he peered into the midday sun, it rebounded from his chest and over the boundary rope for four.

In their desperation for a breakthrough, Pakistan chased a speculative review of an lbw shout against Warner (on 59) which only confirmed umpire Joel Wilson's verdict the ball would have bounced above the stumps.

However, the visitors regrouped after a re-assessment at lunch (which Australia reached 0-117 off 25 overs) and Shaheen's disciplined spell eventually brought the wicket of Khawaja who drove at one of the day's rare full balls that decked marginally away.

Denied permission by ICC protocols to don the shoes carrying human rights messages, Khawaja instead made the personal decision to wear a black armband as a symbol of solidarity and respect.

The 126-run opening stand was the first 100-plus partnership in the first innings of a Test since Marcus Harris and Aaron Finch put on 112 in the inaugural five-day fixture played at Perth Stadium against India in 2018.

The hour after lunch proved Pakistan's best of the day, although it was the first delivery after the middle-of-day drinks break that brought their second wicket when Marnus Labuschagne was pinned lbw by a ball from Faheem Ashraf that nipped back off the seam.

Labuschagne's hopeful review only confirmed he would have lost his leg stump, but any momentum the tourists had threatened to build quickly dissipated when new batter Steve Smith was presented with a couple of generous half-trackers that brought effortless boundaries.

Smith was understandably annoyed when he instinctively followed a leg-cutter that took the edge of his bat and gave Khurram a maiden Test wicket, as he understood the bounty that beckoned from a listless and often directionless Pakistan attack in the final session.

NRMA Insurance Test series v Pakistan

First Test: December 14-18, Perth Stadium (1.20pm AEDT)

Second Test: December 26-30, MCG (10.30am AEDT)

Third Test: January 3-7, SCG (10.30am AEDT)

Australia squad: (first Test only) Pat Cummins (c), Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitch Marsh, Lance Morris, Steve Smith, Mitch Starc, David Warner

Pakistan squad: Shan Masood (c), Aamir Jamal, Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Faheem Ashraf, Hasan Ali, Imam-ul-Haq, Khurram Shahzad, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Noman Ali, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha, Sarfaraz Ahmed (wk), Saud Shakeel and Shaheen Shah Afridi