Brisbane: Joe Burns smashed two sixes off three balls to reach his maiden Test century and David Warner completed back-to-back tons as Australia amassed a huge lead over New Zealand in the first Gabba Test on Saturday.
Burns, playing in only his third Test match but his first as opener, blasted spinner Mark Craig for two sixes over long off to race from 88 to 100 in three balls. When bad light stopped play, Australia had stretched their overall lead to 503 runs at 264 for four and an overnight declaration imminent with first-innings centurion Usman Khawaja not out nine and Adam Voges on one. Burns, who was finally out for 129 off 123 balls with 14 fours and four sixes, thrilled his home Queensland crowd with some prodigious hitting to reach his first Test ton after three consecutive Test half-centuries.
It was only the third time that a batsman has scored a Test century in both innings on three separate occasions along with Test greats Ricky Ponting and Sunil Gavaskar.
Brief scores:Australia 556/4 decl. & 264/4 in 42 overs ( Joe Burns 129, David Warner 116, Mark Craig 3/78) vs New Zealand 317 (Kane Williamson 140, Tom Latham 47, Mitchell Star 4/57, Mitchell Johnson 3/105).
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