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In David Warner’s final Test match, Australia defeated Pakistan by eight wickets to provide him with an ideal send-off.
SYDNEY: David Warner scored a vital 57 runs in his final Test innings to help Australia overcome Pakistan’s 130-run target and secure a 3-0 series sweep for the hosts on Saturday.
In the final innings, the Australians defeated the visitors by eight wickets, ending their hopes of winning in Australia for the first time since 1995.
Pakistan could be dismissed for 115 an hour before lunch, adding just 47 runs to their overnight total at the expense of the final three wickets.
Before quitting the format, Warner played his 112th match. At the boundary rope, he hugged his opening partner and childhood friend Usman Khawaja. The tourists also provided him with a guard of honour as he approached the crease.
In the first over, Khawaja was out for duck after being leg before wicket, but Warner came out of the gate looking like a man on a mission, ripping the ball through the covers in his trademark style for his first four.
With a single to square leg, he reached his 37th Test half century, and Australia went to lunch on 91-1, 39 runs short of their target, with the victory all but assured.
Warner’s 75-ball innings featured seven boundaries and a few more opportunities before spinner Sajid Khan trapped him in front, leaving Australia just 11 runs short of victory with one day remaining.
More than 22,000 spectators at Warner’s home Sydney Cricket Ground stood for a last round of applause as he exited the field, his involvement in the 2018 ball-tampering controversy, which resulted in a one-year suspension from international cricket, lifted.
Read More: Pakistan maintains a run rate of more than four in Test innings against Australia
After his debut against New Zealand in 2011, Warner’s innings brought his career total of 8,786 runs at an average of 44.59 in 112 tests. He also had 26 centuries.
Shortly after Warner’s departure, Marnus Labuschagne (62 not out) got the home team over the finish line with a single.
Similar to the second Test in Melbourne, Pakistan’s inability to end their lengthy losing streak in Australia was solely due to their own batting shortcomings.
Read More: With six wickets from Aamer Jamal, Pakistan dismiss Australia for 299 runs
They were on track to set their hosts a far more formidable target on a declining pitch, but in Friday’s penultimate over, Josh Hazlewood (4-16) claimed three wickets.
Mohammad Rizwan scored 28 on Saturday morning before Warner caught him off Nathan Lyon’s bowl, and three balls later, Aamer Jamal holed out for 18. Lyon bowled Hasan Ali for five runs to end the innings.
In a perplexing move by captain Shan Masood, seamer Jamal—who claimed six wickets on his debut in the first Test in Perth and another in the first innings in Sydney—was not brought on to bowl until after lunch.
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