David Warner is not just slam-Bang, he uses his head too

Those who believe NSW opener David Warner is just a slogger, think again. His masterly knock against Victoria yesterday showed he can use his head too

Thoseu00a0whou00a0believe NSW opener David Warneru00a0isu00a0justu00a0a slogger, think again. Hisu00a0masterlyu00a0knocku00a0againstu00a0Victoriau00a0yesterday showed he can use his head too

Man of the match David Warner of New South Wales smashes one during his knock of 48 against Victoria Bushrangers at the Feroze Shah Kotla, Delhi yesterday

Even as he likes to blaze the bowlers, the young pocket dynamo from New South Wales, David Warner, showed that he thinks about the game as well.

So when he got to Delhi on match-eve, he summed up the conditions in the team meeting. "We need to play straight and not look to play square off the wicket,'' Warner told his mates.

Having played twice before here at the Kotla pitch, the young batsman knew what he needed to do when he landed up in Delhi again. "I had struggled in my first two attempts here because I was playing square off the wicket. But this time I decided not to do anything of that,'' added Warner post the match-winning knock of 48 runs.

Showing the way
He showed very quickly that he had his head firmly placed on his shoulder when he went down the track to his partner Phil Hughes and told him what he was doing wrong. The left-handed opener knew that the key to doing well at the Kotla was to scoring heavily in the first six overs.

So he advised Hughes after seeing him struggle.

"Listen mate, we need to cut this out. We need to play straight and we will get the runs. That's important for the first six overs," Warner told his opening partner.

It worked as the duo added 62 in double quick time. That opening stand in the end was the difference between the sides when it came to picking the winners.

It was acknowledged as much by Victoria Bushrangers captain Cameron White and also Warner. "Yeah we needed to give a start and put up a good score," summed up Warner.

For White, it was a case of counting the mistakes. "We did not bowl enough in the right areas. We let their openers to score a lot. Their openers showed how to bat on this pitch,'' opined White.

The Melbourne man knew what he meant when he summed up the bowling performance: "It was probably one of the worst performances"Victoria will be back

With wins over Delhi Daredevils and Royal Challengers Bangalore, White's team had done more than expected in the competition. But White wants more from his side. "We need to go back, top the KFC Big Bash and come back next year," hoped White.

On his part, Warner looked ahead to his probable opponent in the final. "If it is Trinidad, I hope Kieron Pollard does not come out to bat," Warner said in jest about Pollard's sledgehammer knock in the last league game.

But on a more serious note, looking ahead to the semi-final between Trinidad and Tobago and Cape Cobras, he had this to say: "Trinidad play an interesting game. But Herschelle Gibbs is due for a big score, and if JP Duminyu00a0 scores too then watch out Trinidad."