Warner bows out with a fifty as Aussies complete 3-0 sweep of Pakistan

Australia beat Pakistan by eight wickets in David Warner’s final Test match to seal a 3-0 series clean sweep.

Opening batter Warner struck 57 as the hosts comfortably chased 130 to win on the fourth day in Sydney.

An emotional Warner was given a guard of honour by Pakistan and added 119 for the second wicket with Marnus Labuschagne, who made an unbeaten 62.

“I’d like to be remembered as exciting, and entertaining,” said 37-year-old Warner.

“I hope I put a smile on everyone’s face with the way I played and hopefully the young kids out there can follow in my footsteps.

“This team, they’re energetic, they’re world-class and they’re a great bunch of guys.”

Earlier, Pakistan were skittled for just 115 having started the morning on 67-7, seamer Josh Hazlewood finishing with 4-16.

Usman Khawaja fell for a duck in the first over, but Warner and Labuschagne comfortably negotiated the chase on a wearing pitch before the former was lbw to spinner Sajid Khan with Australia 11 runs shy of their target.

Warner, playing on his home ground, batted with his characteristic aggression, reaching his half-century from just 56 balls and striking seven boundaries.

Pakistan, who were competitive in the first two Tests despite the results, fell to their 17th consecutive Test defeat in Australia as only four batters passed double figures in their fourth innings.

Australia captain Pat Cummins was named Player-of-the-Series for his 19 wickets in the three Tests.

‘He’s going to be hard to replace’

Warner ends his career as Australia’s most prolific opener, and the fourth-most successful opener of all-time in terms of runs scored, behind England’s Sir Alastair Cook, India’s Sunil Gavaskar and South Africa’s Graeme Smith.

Warner played 161 one-day internationals and also announced his retirement from that format during this series, but will continue to play T20s.

But his successful career has also been intertwined with controversy.

In 2018, he was Australia’s vice-captain and was banned from playing all forms of international cricket for a year over his involvement in the ‘sandpaper-gate’ ball-tampering scandal.

He was also permanently banned from holding a leadership position in Australian cricket teams.

Warner returned from his ban in 2019 and re-established himself as one of the world’s best openers, which leaves Australia with the difficult task of finding his replacement.

“It’s going to be hard to replace him,” said Cummins. “He’s basically played every game for the last dozen years.

“He’s a huge personality, he really sets the game up with the way he plays every time he walks out.

“He’s going to be huge to replace. We’ll enjoy him for the next day or so while we’ve still got him around.” (BBC Sport)