Australia upset with Warner’s injury ahead of T20 World Cup opening match

Defending champions Australia’s preparations for the T20 World Cup were dealt a major setback after star opener David Warner pulled out of the third and final T20I against England on Friday due to a neck strain. Australia will take on India in a warm-up match in Brisbane on Tuesday next week before starting their campaign against New Zealand on October 22. Warner was the player of the tournament in the team’s T20 World Cup winning campaign in the United Arab Emirates last year.

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He told ‘Fox Cricket’, “My neck has been constricted since this morning. I fell pretty fast the previous day. I have never fallen so hard on my neck before. There is a really tightness in the neck.” Steve Smith was included in his place in the third and final T20 International. Warner (35-years) has been in fine form with two half-centuries, having also survived a ‘concussion’ in the second T20 International against England on Wednesday.

Warner had a strange fall while trying to take a catch of Moeen Ali at the ‘point boundary’, which prompted Smith to replace him. But after passing the ‘concussion’ test, he opened the innings with captain Aaron Finch. But in the fifth over, he was dismissed for four runs. England won the match by four runs and won the series 2-0.