David Warner equals Kohli for spectacular ODI century feat with ton vs Pakistan; inches closer to Rohit's WC record

David Warner smashed a brilliant century against Pakistan during the side's 2023 World Cup match in Bengaluru.

Australia had a spectacular start to their crucial 2023 World Cup match against Pakistan in Bengaluru. The opening pair of David Warner and Mitchell Marsh displayed a phenomenal performance, forging a remarkable partnership of 259 runs for the first wicket. What made this partnership even more special was that both batters reached their centuries within back-to-back balls in the 31st over. Warner, the more aggressive of the two, reached his century in just 85 balls, while birthday boy Marsh took 101 balls to achieve his ton.

Australia's David Warner celebrates his century during the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup match between Australia and Pakistan in Bengaluru (AP)

In a brilliant display of consistency, Warner notched up his 21st century in the fifty-over format, while also securing his fourth consecutive century against Pakistan. This remarkable feat put him on par with India's Virat Kohli, who also smashed four consecutive centuries against West Indies between 2017 and 2018. Warner's sequence of scores against Pakistan from 2017 to 2023 includes 130, 179, 107, and his latest century in Bengaluru on Friday.

During this game, Warner also entered the record books by becoming one of only few select players with five World Cup centuries, joining the ranks of Australian legend Ricky Ponting and Sri Lankan great Kumar Sangakkara. He now stands as the joint-third highest century-scorer in World Cup history, behind Rohit Sharma with seven and the legendary Sachin Tendulkar with six.

Here' s the list of highest centurions at World Cups- (* denotes currently active):

• Rohit Sharma* (India) - 7
• Sachin Tendulkar (India) - 6
• Ricky Ponting (Australia) - 5
• Kumar Sangakkara (Sri Lanka) - 5
• David Warner* (Australia) - 5

The partnership of 259 runs between Warner and Marsh also ranks as the second-highest opening partnership in World Cup history, just shy of the record held by Tillakaratne Dilshan and Upul Tharanga, who managed 282 runs against Zimbabwe in the 2011 World Cup.

For Australia, this was the fourth-highest opening partnership in ODIs. Incidentally, Warner holds the record in that aspect as well, forging a 284-run stand with Travis Head during a 2017 ODI against Pakistan in Adelaide. Warner has been involved in all of top-four highest partnerships for Australia in ODIs.