Australian opener David Warner became just the second batter in the history of ODI cricket to be stumped for 99. The southpaw achieved this when he was dismissed one short of a century against Sri Lanka in the fourth ODI at the R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo on Tuesday (June 22). The only other cricket to achieve this feat was India’s VVS Laxman.


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When he touched 99, the southpaw appeared to be on his way to ending his international career’s biggest century slump, but he couldn’t, and he currently stands at 48 innings without a ton, across all formats. Subsequently, the match shifted significantly in Sri Lanka‘s favour, giving them their first bilateral ODI series victory against Australia at home since 1992.


Warner, who was the only Australian batter to play the Sri Lankan slow bowlers with plenty of confidence scoring a 112-ball 99 as the tourists failed to counter spin in their chase of 258, indicated post-match that the ‘extreme’ pitches in the island nation will likely backfire on the hosts in the Test series. The hosts utilised six different spinners, ‘exposing Australia to more than 40 overs of spin for just the fifth time in their 51-year ODI history’, according to cricket.com.au.



With turning pitches expected in the two Tests at Galle, Warner said Sri Lanka might have given Australia the advantage. “We’re always expecting turning wickets and it`s fantastic preparation for us... it’s great practice leading into the Test series," the 35-year-old said after the four-run loss. We actually love that they’re playing on the wickets back-to-back, that`s what we want, we can`t get that practice in the nets – the nets are green.


“For us it’s great practice out in the middle with these dustbowls. It’s going to be exciting for the Test matches in Galle because we know what we`re going to get there. This is extreme spin, you don’t usually see these types of wickets, you only see them here. India is completely different, they’re actually good wickets and they turn day three and four. It’s about being busy – I remember playing in Dhaka, that was one of the worst wickets I`ve ever played on, and I made a hundred. It’s about committing, it’s about concentration and it`s about batting long periods of time,” added Warner.


(with IANS inputs)