Australia's David Warner lit up the final day of the rain-ruined third Test with the fastest Test century at the Sydney Cricket Ground as the match meandered to a draw against the West Indies on Thursday. Man-of-the-match Warner, determined to finish an undistinguished series on a high, reached his 16th Test century off 82 balls before a small Sydney crowd in the last rites to a frustrating Test. It eclipsed Matthew Hayden's 84-ball ton against Zimbabwe in 2003.
The buccaneering opener had a highest score of 64 in the two previous Tests as team-mates helped themselves to six centuries against the tourists' innocuous bowling attack. Warner was hell-bent on rectifying that deficiency and attacked the bowling from the first ball to raise his maiden ton against the West Indies.
When the match was called off at 4:50pm local time (0550 GMT), Warner was unbeaten on 122 off 103 balls with Peter Nevill on seven and Australia 176 for two in reply to the West Indies' 330. The match was destined to a draw after two days were washed out with only 86.2 overs possible before the anti-climatic fifth day. Skipper Steve Smith revealed after play that he had offered to contrive a result through declarations, but said that his West Indies counterpart Jason Holder declined the offer. "Unfortunately, they didn't come to the party," Smith said. When play resumed the West Indies added 82 runs before being dismissed for 330.
Australia, and Warner in particular, went after the tourists' total with gusto to entertain the small crowd given free admission into the Sydney Cricket Ground. Warner provided plenty of entertainment, clubbing spinner Jomel Warrican for two sixes in three balls on the way to plundering 16 runs from one over. "We tried to go out there and be as positive as we could," Warner said. "We tried to score some runs at a nice rate to give the fans something to watch."
Warner and Joe Burns raised their 100-run stand off 92 balls, with Warner contributing 74 runs. Burns was out soon after, attempting to hoist Warrican over mid-on only to be taken head-high by Kemar Roach for 26. Under-used Mitchell Marsh and wicketkeeper Neville were promoted in the order. Marsh, in only his third bat of the series, was caught at slip for 21 giving spinner Jomel Warrican his fifth wicket of the series and making him his side's leading wicket-taker over the three Tests. The West Indies earlier reached their highest score of the series before being dismissed at lunch.
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Scoreboard
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West Indies 1st innings (248-7 overnight)
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K. Brathwaite c Smith b Lyon 85
S. Hope c Nevill b Hazlewood 9
D. Bravo c Khawaja b Pattinson 33
M. Samuels run out (Hazlewood) 4
J. Blackwood b Lyon 10
D. Ramdin c Smith b O'Keefe 62
J. Holder c Burns b O'Keefe 1
C. Brathwaite b Pattinson 69
K. Roach c Burns b Lyon 15
J. Taylor c Lyon b O'Keefe 13
J. Warrican not out 21
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Extras: (b5, lb2, nb1) 8
Total: (all out; 112.1 overs) 330
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Fall of wickets: 1-13 (Hope), 2-104 (Bravo), 3-115 (Samuels), 4-131 (Blackwood), 5-158 (K. Brathwaite), 6-159 (Holder), 7-246 (C. Brathwaite), 8-296 (Ramdin), 9-300 (Roach), 10-330 (Taylor)
Bowling: Hazlewood 18-5-49-1, Pattinson 18-3-76-2 (1nb), Lyon 46-12-120-3, Marsh 4-1-15-0, O'Keefe 26.1-7-63-3.
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Australia 1st innings
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D. Warner not out 122
J. Burns c Roach b Warrican 26
M. Marsh c Blackwood b Warrican 21
P. Nevill not out 7
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Total: (2 wickets; 38 overs) 176
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Fall of wickets: 1-100 (Burns), 2-154 (Marsh) Bowling: Taylor 4-0-27-0, Holder 4-1-15-0, Roach 4-0-29-0, Warrican 15-1-62-2, C. Brathwaite 7-0-23-0, K. Brathwaite 4-0-20-0
Result: Match drawn, Australia win series 2-0
Man of the match: David Warner (AUS)
Man of the series: Adam Voges (AUS) Toss: West Indies
Umpires: Ian Gould (ENG), Chris Gaffaney (NZL) TV umpire: Marais Erasmus (RSA)
Match referee: Chris Broad (ENG).
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