Warner hails Australia’s limited-overs turnaround against Sri Lanka

Melbourne [Australia], Sept.10 : Following a 2-0 win over Sri Lanka in the two match T20 series, Australia stand-in skipper David Warner has lauded his side's gritty performance saying that it was pleasing to see `scrappy cricket` from the limited-overs unit.

Warner, who came in the place of rested Steve Smith, took Australia's captaincy reins when the ODI series was tied 1-1, but the team showcased superb transformation under him as they went on to win each of the remaining matches against Lanka.

Australia have been particularly impressive in two T20 internationals, winning the opening match by 86 runs before sealing a four-wicket win over Lanka with 13 balls to spare.

Insisting that Australia had worked really hard to win the limited-overs series, the 29-year-old explosive opener believes his side had shown a lot of determination and staged a spirited fight back after their Test series whitewash against the Angelo Mathews-led side.

"I think the guys showed a lot of determination and fight to overcome the conditions, which were very, very challenging and something that we are not very used to.

You saw scrappy cricket during the one-day series, where the highest score was 280 here. And then we were scrapping to get to 200. It was good grinding cricket. It was something that we're not used to. The encouraging signs mean that we've worked really hard to win both series," Warner was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo.

Despite Australia displaying a much better performance against spin in the limited-overs series, Warner believes it would not necessarily make them better players of spin in the longest format of the game.

However, Warner heaped praise on his side's spin bowling attack, especially after knowing that the conditions were not in favour of quick bowlers.

"In one-day cricket it's a bit different - you can't have two in close with slip and a leg slip. It's just not possible. The reverse sweeps, sitting in the crease to pinch the ones and twos, and rotating the strike, are all much easier in this game than in the Tests, where it was very, very tough for us as a batting team.

But the way the bowlers conducted themselves and reduced totals after losing the toss consistently, was a fantastic effort," he added.

Australia will now head to South Africa for a five-match ODI series and three Tests, starting on September 30 on SuperSport Park in Centurion.

Source: ANI