David Warner walked off the Adelaide Oval with his bat held aloft in one hand and his helmet in the other in the formation of a big V, as Mark Taylor and tens of thousands of fans stood and applauded his unbeaten 335 against Pakistan.
Warner, who missed the last southern summer while serving a 12-month and entered the series against Pakistan after a poor Ashes return in England, beat the great Donald Bradman’s record of 299 — set against South Africa in 1931-32 — for the highest Test score at the Adelaide Oval.
Then he overhauled Bradman’s highest Test score of 334 with a single before Australia captain Tim Paine declared Australia’s innings at 589-3 on Saturday to give his bowlers a chance to get wickets before the main interval on day two of the match.
Warner’s score is second only to Matthew Hayden, who scored 380 against Zimbabwe in 2003, among Australian Test batsmen.
That was a position previously shared by Bradman and Taylor, who retired on 334 against Pakistan at Peshawar in 1998 out of respect for the Australian great.
Taylor was in a broadcasting commentary box on Saturday when Warner surpassed his record. Bradman died in 2001 but his legacy lives on at his long-time home ground, with a stand named in his honor at the Adelaide Oval.
Warner walked through a guard of honor his teammates formed on the boundary as he went back to the dressing rooms for a well-deserved break.
Warner’s innings lasted 418 balls and contained 39 fours and one six — which he whacked on 302 to surpass Pakistan skipper’ Azhar Ali’s record for the biggest innings in a day-night Test.
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