David Warner's case for captaining Australia's Twenty20 side on a full-time basis continues to grow after the stand-in skipper led his side to an astonishing win over New Zealand.
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Set a mammoth 244 to win on Friday night at Eden Park, Australia pulled off the highest run chase in a T20 international to claim a dramatic five-wicket victory at Eden Park.
The visitors achieved their target with seven balls to spare as Warner (59 off 24 balls) and D'Arcy Short (76 off 44) demolished New Zealand's bowlers with some masterful hitting.
After enduring a lean run with the bat in white-ball cricket, Warner was back to his brilliant best, smashing five sixes and taking full advantage of the short Eden Park boundaries.
But as has been the case throughout the series, it was his positivity on the field that arguably paid the greatest dividends.
With Martin Guptill (105) and Colin Munro (76) in destructive touch, Warner remained upbeat and his bowlers responded in turn with a much tighter effort in the final overs.
"Even in the field, he was just telling us 'keep smiling'," Short said.
"Just saying we could chase anything, and keeping the boys upbeat and going through what we needed to do.
"I think we could have been chasing 260, 270 at the start but I think the bowlers brought it back quite well and got us to a target we thought we could chase and believed we could."
With Steve Smith rested in the lead-up to Australia's Test series in South Africa, Warner has led the T20 side to four straight victories in a dramatic turnaround of form.
The 31-year-old has been reluctant to address taking the reins full-time, telling Cricket Australia's website on Thursday that it was a question for Smith and national selectors.
But the strong praise from his teammates in recent weeks suggests he would have plenty of support in such a role.
Speaking after Friday night's victory, Warner said he had made it a priority to bring positivity to the team.
"That's what I said from day one when we first started this," he told Sky Sports.
"Just to have a lot of energy, have fun and keep a smile on your face. We're doing what we love and living the dream.
"We're playing cricket for our country ... it's absolutely sensational."
Australia will face the winner of Sunday's clash between New Zealand and England in the final on Wednesday night.
Australian Associated Press
