Warner changes the track

David Warner has 18 hundreds from 64 matches. He averages 47.42 as a Test opener and scores an electric 78 runs per 100 balls, usually playing in conditions where the new ball is a major factor. He is a fearsome presence at home in Australia, England and South Africa. All that ferocity, however, seemingly evaporates when he plays in the subcontinent. In India, he averages 24.25 from eight matches with a top score of 71, and in Sri Lanka he scored at 27.16 per innings with a best of 68. Warner was not seen as a big threat by Bangladesh because of those figures, and because in Mirpur he has been confronted with a pitch that he may not have encountered during previous visits to the subcontinent.

That ferocity, however, came rushing back in full force in the evening session yesterday when the pugnacious opener raced to an unbeaten 75 off 96 balls, for the moment making a mockery of a treacherous chase of 265 on a treacherous pitch. He had his slice of fortune -- Soumya Sarkar dropped a sharp chance at slip when Warner was on 14 -- but what came afterwards showcased the strength of a powerful cricketer as he completely upended the suppositions built up over the eight sessions that came before. 

In doing so, he has breathed new life into an Australian team which had begun to bear a victimised air after the events of the first two days.

"I think he's amazing. He's such a big player for us, you can just see it in his eyes when he is out there," Australia fast bowler Pat Cummins said after the day's play. "He is so focused; we always say 'be the ball' and he looked like he was the ball out there. Focused, taking the game on. He got his 50 rapidly. I think it just changes the momentum and also the mindset of the other batsmen. He just came in and took the game on, it's great."

Warner began by hitting two boundaries off the very first over from Mehedi Hasan Miraz, sending a message to the opposition that they will have no leeway. He seemed to be fed up with trying to survive on subcontinent wickets -- his strike rate suggests that that is not the way he plays. That seemed to simplify matters. He was decisive in defence and attack. If the two boundaries in the first over sent a message to the opposition, a six over wide long on off the best bowler in the match, Shakib Al Hasan, told his teammates in the dressing room that the pitch was not the demon the scoreboard had made it out to be. 

"I think the pitch seems to have mellowed out a little bit compared to day one," Cummins said. "I mean, I think keeping our target to 260 really kept us in the game and to finish off tonight like we did, if we have a good first hour tomorrow it should really set the game up. So I think we're in a great position."

Tamim Iqbal did not share the view that the pitch has mellowed out, but that does not matter because the Australians believe that it has. And that, more than the runs, may be Warner's biggest impact on this Test.