Australia vs Afghanistan: Warner eyes rare milestone

Australia opener David Warner will look to achieve a rare milestone when his side face off Afghanistan in their second Super Eight match of the T20 World Cup at the Arnos Vale Ground in Kingstown, St Vincent tomorrow at 6.30 am Bangladesh Time.

The left-handed opener is within touching distance of becoming the first Aussie to reach 1000 runs in T20 World Cups. Warner so far has scored 975 runs in 39 matches.
 
Such has been Warner's dominance since his first T20 World Cup in 2009 that only Virat Kohli (1170 in 31 matches), Rohit Sharma (1039 in 43 matches) and Mahela Jayawardena (1016 in 31 matches) have scored more runs in the tournament's 17-year history.

"I've said it a few times already, I think he's going to be really hard to replace," former Australia captain Ricky Ponting told journalists at Sir Vivian Richards Stadium.

"Not just with the runs but the way he plays the game.

"Being able to open the batting the way that he has even in Test cricket, pretty aggressive mindset, puts pressure back on the bowler straight away. That stuff is pretty hard to find.

"So it's one thing to lose the runs, but also the other things he brings to the team.

"I've always said he's a winner, he has that winner's attitude and that can be infectious around teams. They'll miss everything about having him around I think."

Warner has scored 169 runs so far in the ongoing edition, placing him in the tournament's top five.

"He's always got a huge appetite for runs, particularly in these tournaments," said pacer Pat Cummins.