‘A nice, little quiet shush’

David Warner celebrates his century v Pakistan at Perth. Pic/AFP

Veteran opener David Warner hammered a gritty 164 to silence the critics and steer Australia to 346-5 against an inconsistent Pakistan attack in the first Test on Thursday.

The 37-year-old batted for much of Day One before finally departing to Aamer Jamal, two balls after smashing the debutant for six. At stumps, Mitchell Marsh was unbeaten on 15 and Alex Carey not out 14.

Pakistan, who have never won a Test series in Australia and have failed to win a Test in the country since 1995, had no answer to a near-flawless Warner who smashed 16 fours and four sixes in a majestic 211-ball innings. He padded up under pressure to score runs with an emotional goodbye from Test cricket at the third Test in Sydney in front of his hometown fans his stated goal. In the lead-up, ex-Australian pacer Mitchell Johnson questioned whether Warner deserved a hero's farewell given his recent poor red-ball form and involvement in the ball-tampering scandal. "People make comments, but you get one with it. You have to just go out there and score runs and today I did that," said Warner.

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Warner reached the three figure-mark with an uppercut boundary off Jamal, celebrating with his trademark leap and putting his finger to his mouth. "It was a nice, little quiet shush," Warner said of his celebration.

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