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NSW batsman David Warner staked his claim to rejoin Australia’s Twenty20 ranks this summer after scoring the fastest 50 in Australian domestic Twenty20 history to help the Blues beat Tasmania by 31 runs on Wednesday.
But he doesn’t want to restrict his ambitions to the shortest form of the game.
“I still want to play all forms of the game but at the moment I’m only scoring runs in the Twenty20 stuff,” he said.
“But I just have to keep working on scoring runs in the four-day game and the one-day stuff.
“I’m giving it my best shot and hopefully I can keep scoring runs.”
In February, Australia play one Twenty20 match against Pakistan and two against the West Indies.
Tasmania needed 195 to win after restricting a rampaging Blues outfit to 4-194 off their 20 overs.
But their reply ended on 163 with six balls remaining.
Warner belted five fours and four sixes on his way to 50 off just 18 balls, beating the mark of 19 balls set by Tigers skipper George Bailey against WA in 2006/07.
“It’s a bit of a thrill. I didn’t know about the record at first and it’s good to get that but it’s also good to get a win,” he said.
He was run out for 67 off 24 balls, leaving NSW 1-97 in the seventh over after entertaining the appreciative crowd of 6,515.
The fastest 50 ever scored in first class cricket came off 12 balls, scored by India’s Yuvraj Singh against England in 2007.
Warner’s opening partner Phillip Hughes played a relatively steady hand for an unbeaten 71 off 50 balls.
“David really set the platform today and he looked beautiful,” Hughes said.
Adding to the entertainment, Tasmania’s Tim Paine almost equalled Warner’s record, falling short on 48 off 18 balls, including six fours and two sixes.
“I was disappointed to get off to a really good start and then throw it away,” Paine said.
“Chasing such a big total, 48s and 50s and that sort of thing just aren’t good enough, so (I’m) very disappointed.”
The Tigers challenge petered out after Paine’s dismissal, caught behind off a top edge from an awkward lap scoop aimed at fine leg, leaving Tasmania at 2-86 in the seventh over.
Leg-spinner Steven Smith cleaned up most of the remaining Tigers returning 4-13 off four overs.
Paceman Aaron Bird chipped in with 2-22 off 3.1 overs before retiring with a leg muscle strain. He took the key wickets of Paine and Bailey.
West Indies signing Dwayne Smith claimed 1-20 off three overs and scored three runs off four balls with bat.
Tigers international signing, Pakistan quick Rana Naved-ul-Hasan, was the Tigers best bowler with 2-41 off his four overs.
The Tigers can thank some tight bowling by James Faulkner (1-26 off four overs) and Xavier Doherty (0-27 off four overs) for restricting the Blues to less than 200.
Brett Geeves bowled just one over for 23 runs and Gerard Denton returned 0-40 off three overs.
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