Opener David Warner put Australia in the driver's seat on the first day of the Perth Test against Pakistan with his 26th hundred to silence his critics on Thursday.
Warner scored 164 off 211 balls to help the Aussies reach 346 for 5 in 84 overs after Pat Cummins won the toss and opted to bat first at the Optus Stadium.
Warner steals the show on Day 1
Warner, who came under criticism from former Aussie teammate Mitchell Johnson over his poor form in the lead up to this series, made his bat do all the talking and respond to his detractors throughout the day's play.
He stitched a 126-run opening partnership with Usman Khawaja (41), 79 with Steve Smith (31) and 66 with Travis Head (40) to make it Australia's day.
Cummins lauds Warner's knock
His knock earned rich praise from skipper Cummins after stumps.
"It was a near perfect day of Test cricket for us, the way the openers batted set the tone for us. He (Warner) batted really well, put the pressure back on the bowlers.
"It was a tough wicket but he did well to score a hundred. I think when he goes back to his aggressive self he plays his best. It takes a lot of bravery to go out there and play like that," Cummins said.
Australia targetting 450-500
Mitchell Marsh (15*) and Alex Carey (14*) will resume Australia's first innings on Day 2. Cummins said the hosts are targetting a total between 450-500 on Friday.
"We will see how it goes, 350 is good but getting another 100-150 runs would be lovely. The wicket looks like a pretty good wicket. First innings runs we will try and get as many as we can," Cummins added.
Pakistan left to rue dropped catches
For Pakistan, pacer Aamer Jamal bagged a couple of wickets while Shaheen Shah Afrid, Khurram Shahzad and spinner Faheem Ashraf took one each.
The visitors could have been in a much better position had they held all their catches and pulled up their socks on the field.
Abdullah Shafique and Khurram Shehzad dropped the catches of openers Usman Khawaja and David Warner before Muhammad Rizwan missed the centurion's stumping during the day's play which added insult to injury for new captain Shan Masood's side.
