Calcutta: In his very first innings at No.4, David Warner proved he could be a match-winner in the middle order too. 

Scoring a blistering 77 off 40 balls and stitching a 161-run stand with Glenn Maxwell, in Johannesburg on Sunday, Warner helped Australia chase down a huge target of 205 and level the T20I series with one match remaining. 

The 29-year-old now looks set to continue batting at No.4 for the World T20. “Yeah, I’ve batted at No.4 before, in the IPL,” Warner was quoted as saying by the Cricket Australia (CA) website. 

“It’s whatever is in the best interests of the team. I’m pretty flexible. I don’t say to Steve (Smith) that I want to bat at the top. 

“It’s something where if I’m helping the team in any way, shape or form, then I’m all ears for that. It’s one of those things where you have to try and mix up the middle. 

“You need a left-hander somewhere in the middle and fortunately enough, I can play that role. I’ll have to speak to Steve, but this is preparation for the World T20. So, I feel I will continue to bat at No.4.”

Captain Smith, who made the call to reshuffle the batting order, praised Warner’s versatility. “Davey’s been great to come in at No.4 and do what he did,” Smith said. 

“He’s a great opening batsman and he can do that at No.4 too, which is great for the team and hopefully, we can see a lot more of that from him.”

It means the captain and his deputy, if required, can provide experience and composure in the middle order, just as Warner did in Johannesburg. 

“We looked at the way the boys were playing in the Big Bash League at home, how to get people in the team … Slotting himself and me in the middle order was best. That’s what Steve and Boof (coach Darren Lehmann) felt,” Warner said. 

“Talking to the selectors, our key component was to have those three (Shane Watson, Usman Khawaja and Aaron Finch) at the top of the order with myself and Steve in the middle trying to set the innings. 

“I’m really comfortable with that and if that’s the decision Steve wants to go with, I’m happy with that.” 

Warner was particularly savage against leg-spinner Imran Tahir back on Sunday. “Fortunately, the thing for us was that I was in,” Warner said. 

“We had a left-hand, right-hand combination. That’s what we try to do when you’ve got spinners that turn the ball away from the right-hander. You generally try and mix it up with left-handers in the middle. 

“We’ve only got myself and Khawaja. When he’s in the team, he’s obviously batting at the top and I’m in the middle. So it was a great role for me to play and my game was to try and take Tahir on. 

“He bowled a couple of wrong ’uns and I managed to get under them. Then he bowled short of back of a length and that was quite hard to hit. So we had to try and work out whereabouts on the field we can hit, and that was to target straight. 
“Obviously, the conditions didn’t suit him as much. It didn’t turn as much as it did in Durban.”