Warner's triple century sets records in pink ball test

David Warner produced the largest innings ever in the day-night cricket test format and surpassed some of the records of Don Bradman before finishing unbeaten on 335 when Australia captain Tim Paine declared against Pakistan at 589-3 on the second day.

Paine's decision on Saturday night to put the team above the player left Warner in second place on Australia's all-time list of top test scorers, just behind Matt Hayden's 380 against Zimbabwe in 2003.

Warner had just drawn a single to hit 334, which was the best test score for the great Bradman.

He shared a 361-run stand along the way with Marnus Labuschagne (162), an Australia record against Pakistan, and had partnerships of 121 with Steve Smith (36) and 99 with Matthew Wade, who ended up unbeaten on 38 out of 40 balls.

Paine made the decision to declare that his pacemen would get some overs before the dinner interval, the main break in the day-night format, at the top order of Pakistan.

Warner could not, then either, be kept out of service.

In the first two innings, Pakistan's openers Shan Masood and Imam-ul-Haq (2) both got better decision comparisons before Mitch Starc got the breakthrough,Having a tick edge off the bat of ul-Haq which put Warner in the gully at the waist-height. 

Pakistan was 3-1 at the end of the middle session, with Masood on one and Azhar Ali's skipper still to get off the mark from his first three balls.

For Pakistan, the first five sessions were painful, with the only highlights being the three wickets of Shaheen Afridi.
Along the way, Warner, who whacked a six to transfer to 308 to underline his supremacy, missed Azhar's mark of 302 for a day-night test.

Warner, who missed the last southern summer while serving a 12-month ban and entered the series against Pakistan after a poor Ashes in England, beat Bradman's record of 299 — set against South Africa in 1931-32 — to the Adelaide Oval's highest test score.

Then he just kept going and was finally called back to the pavilion with the 10th-highest score ever in a test match— the mark stands for Brian Lara's 400 not out.

Warner had a consolation at the Gabba when he was picked off a 16-year-old Naseem Shah's no-ball on 56. On Saturday, this time on 226 and against another test rookie, he had another reprieve when he edged 19-year-old Muhammad Musa to the slips but remained at the crease as the young paceman had over-stepped.

"I'm getting a bit of luck right now... (but) I've been very disciplined in my last two innings," Warner said at the end of the second session on day two as he walked off the field.

Warner's innings lasted 418 balls and contained 39 fours and one six, and he undoubtedly cemented his place in the Australian team together with his 154 in the first test against Pakistan last week.

Which came into question when, in August and September, he scored 95 runs in 10 Ashes innings, reaching a half-century, making three ducks, and struggling to get out of single figures every other day except once— when he was out for 11.

The return to the runs of Smith ensured that he became the first batsmen in test cricket to cross 7,000 career runs.

Smith was the highest scorer in the Ashes but was out for four in the series-opener at the Gabba against Pakistan, which Australia won through an innings and five runs.

He was more patient in Adelaide and more careful every time he set up a strike before the first break, making sure he hit the mark in his 126th innings and breaking a record set by Walter Hammond of England in 1946.

But he played an extravagant attempt to slog off Shaheen in the Twenty20-style and got an inside edge to Mohammad Rizwan, a wicketkeeper.

This, after bowling Labuschagne with the new ball, gave Shaheen his second day wicket.

From 30 overs, Shaheen returned 3-88 figures but the other bowlers were expensive. Leg-spinner Yasir Shah went back from 0-197, test newcomer Muhammad Musa wicketless for 114 and veteran seamer Mohammad Abbas had 0-100 figures.