Warner repays the faith as openers revive Ashes dream

With a long-awaited Ashes triumph abroad in reach, Australia's long-standing faith in David Warner is on the verge of the ultimate pay-off after the veteran shared in his side's heftiest opening stand in England in almost two decades.

Not since Matthew Hayden and Justin Langer were punching gloves have the Aussies scored as many runs for the first wicket in the UK as the 135 put on by Warner and Usman Khawaja, a partnership that has breathed life into a contest that had been slipping away.

Coming into the tour finale at The Oval, Warner was averaging 30 in Tests over the past three-and-a-half years, managing just one 100-plus score in that time.

He has especially struggled in England, averaging just 16.44 in his preceding nine Tests here.

The selectors' call to stick with the left-hander all through the 2019 campaign, and then resisting the temptation to switch to Marcus Harris or Matthew Renshaw on this ongoing tour, will be vindicated if Warner can push Australia towards a first Ashes series win in the UK since 2001.

"There are a lot of guys who have been on Ashes series over here in the past and haven't managed to win. Twenty years is a long time," said batting coach Michael di Venuto with Australia 249 away from a series-clinching victory on the last day of the tour.

"We're in a great position for some of the boys to get that on their resume. We're all pretty keen to score those runs tomorrow."

The south London crowd was on the verge of exploding when Stuart Broad was gunning for an 18th and final dismissal of Warner after the veteran paceman had been given a guard of honour before play following his surprise call to announce his retirement on Saturday.

But Warner scrapped through the new ball and then rolled back the clock when he slammed Jimmy Anderson for lofted off-drive for four.

By stumps Warner (58no) and Khawaja (69no) had reached the highest partnership by an Australian opening pair in England since Hayden and Langer's 185-run stand at The Oval in 2005.

"I think he's pretty keen to go on for a few more Ashes series now," di Venuto said tongue-in-cheek of Warner following Broad's retirement.

"On this tour he has looked to be positive most of the time on his feet. We have seen plenty of energy out of the crease.

"He has made some really good starts, and just generally made a poor decision when he has been dismissed.

"The way he has been playing, it has been a little out of character when he has been dismissed. So far in this innings he has looked really good, made some good decisions, and played really nicely."

Warner and Khawaja have laid down a solid platform against an England attack managing an injury to lead spinner Moeen Ali, while Mark Wood is dealing with a suspected illness.

Australia were criticised for a sluggish scoring rate in the first innings as they looked to wear down England's ageing attack by putting miles in their legs, a tactic that backfired somewhat as they managed just 295 on a good surface.

But their willingness to play the long game could come home to roost on Monday.

"This morning when we got our target we knew we had a long time to bat to score those runs," said di Venuto.

"We knew potentially there was going to be a lot of overs being bowled at us. Certainly part of that plan is to get them to keep coming back and bowling more overs.

"We'll score as quick as they let us score. If they keep bowling well, we'll try and get through their good stuff."

Getting off to a good start with the bat has been a constant challenge for Australian teams touring the United Kingdom in recent times.

The increased swing offered by the Dukes ball, combined with the tendency for British pitches to provide extra assistance to seam bowlers early on, has made life treacherous for Australian openers.

On their 2019 tour, the visitors did not a record a single opening partnership of more than 20 runs as Warner, Marcus Harris and Cameron Bancroft all struggled in difficult batting conditions against the new ball.

The unbeaten Warner-Khawaja partnership is the biggest against England on their own turf since they adopted their 'Bazball' approach last year and the first of the series from either team in triple-figures.

"They have put some starts together through the series. To get a 100-run start when we are chasing 380 was an outstanding effort," di Venuto said of Australia's openers.

"Conditions had a lot to do with it today. It's a very good batting wicket out there. Absolutely a little swing and seam at times, but generally really good batting conditions.

"We saw a little bit of spin out of the rough to the left-handers but you would expect that. Our guys played really well."

2023 Qantas Ashes Tour of the UK

First Test: Australia won by two wickets

Second Test: Australia won by 43 runs

Third Test: England won by three wickets

Fourth Test: Match drawn

Fifth Test: Thursday July 27-Monday 31, The Oval

Australia squad: Pat Cummins (c), Scott Boland, Alex Carey (wk), Cameron Green, Marcus Harris, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis (wk), Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitch Marsh, Todd Murphy, Michael Neser, Matthew Renshaw, Steve Smith (vc), Mitchell Starc, David Warner

England squad: Ben Stokes (c), Rehan Ahmed, James Anderson, Jonathan Bairstow, Stuart Broad, Harry Brook, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Dan Lawrence, Jack Leach, Ollie Pope, Matthew Potts, Ollie Robinson, Joe Root, Josh Tongue, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood