Steve Smith has thrown his support behind embattled Australia opening batsman David Warner and predicted a steely reaction following poor form.

Warner has not scored a Test century in his past 27 innings, dating back to January 2020 against New Zealand and is running out of chances ahead of the second Test against South Africa starting on Monday at the MCG.

The 36-year-old left-hander was dismissed for a golden duck in the first innings of the first Test against the Proteas, scoring three in the second innings.

Warner failed to reach a half-century in the recent 2-0 Test series victory over the West Indies too, leading to calls for him to be dropped.

But Australia vice-captain Smith pointed to Warner's 106 from 102 balls against England at the MCG in a one-day international in November as reason for hope.

"You only have to look back a [few] weeks ago, a one-day game out here against England, he scored 100 on what was a pretty tough wicket," Smith told reporters.

"We've seen David when his back's up against the wall, he's done pretty well."

Smith added: "It doesn't matter what format of the game, Davey always plays in a pretty similar way, which has been the beauty of him in Test cricket, being able to take the game on from ball one.

"Sometimes it doesn't work, and he hasn't had a great deal of luck lately."

Australia selection chair George Bailey remained confident in Warner earlier this week, stating it was difficult to glean much from the Gabba Test which was dominated by the bowlers and over inside two days.

"No doubt David would be the first to say he'd like a few more runs and to be contributing a bit more knowing the importance of that role at the top of the order," Bailey said. "But full confidence that will come."

David Warner should end his Test career on his own terms rather than wait to be dropped, with Australia great Ricky Ponting suggesting he could bow out at the end of the series with South Africa.

The opener was dismissed for a first-ball duck on day one of the first Test in Brisbane on Saturday, amid a two-year spell where he has failed to post a century.

With tours to India and England coming up in 2023 – where Warner has posted historically below-par averages of 24.25 and 26.04 – questions over his future continue to swirl, particularly after he recently withdrew a review of his lifetime leadership ban.

The final match of the three-Test series with South Africa comes at the batsman's home venue of the Sydney Cricket Ground, and ex-captain Ponting has now speculated whether he will call time in the aftermath, before he is pushed out.

"I think what he should be doing is being as realistic and looking to the future as he can," he told Channel 7. "He deserves the chance to finish the way he wants to finish.

"I would hate to see him get to an Indian tour or at the start of the Ashes tour and then get the tap on the shoulder. That would be a disappointing way for his career to end.

"It might be after the [final] Test [of this series]. Let's wait and see."

Fellow Test veteran Nathan Lyon – who took 3-14 as Australia bowled the Proteas out for 152 before reaching 145-5 at the close on Saturday – says the batsman remains supported by the rest of his team-mates, regardless of his future.

"We all know the X-factor of a cricketer that David Warner is and the type of batter he is," he added.

"He's got 100 per cent support from the changing room and [that] should be the whole Australian public, to be honest with you. I'm expecting David to come out and do amazing things."

Cricket Australia (CA) chief executive Nick Hockley has expressed his disappointment that David Warner opted to withdraw his appeal against a lifetime leadership ban.

Warner was given a one-year ban from playing elite cricket and CA ruled he could never hold an Australia leadership role again for his part in the 2018 Newlands ball-tampering scandal.

The opening batter challenged that ruling, but this week revealed he had withdrawn his appeal as he has no interest in "a public lynching".

Hockley says an independent review panel, which decided a hearing would be made public, was necessary in order to make the process "fair and transparent".

The CA CEO said: "We're disappointed that he's chosen to withdraw his application.

"This is not the outcome that we wanted. The fact it has become such a public thing is entirely contrary to what we were hoping to achieve.

"He could have continued with the process and an application could have been made during the hearing to ask for accredited media not to participate [in parts]. He could have just said 'I am going to withdraw, but I am not going to make a public statement'.

"I did relay that I was concerned I didn't want him to prejudice any future application with public comments. But clearly David has felt the need to say some things.

"This was not about looking at the original events or original sanction, it was about reviewing behaviour since."

Hockley added: "There is a huge amount of public interest in this, clearly, and the commissioners felt that it was appropriate for there to be a level of transparency.

"I make no apology that we've engaged with the best people, that we have best in class governance and we run a proper, fair, independent process."

Warner's agent, James Erskine, stoked the fires by claiming that two unnamed senior executives encouraged Australia players to tamper with the ball 16 months before the fiasco in Cape Town.

Hockley told SEN in response to those accusations: "They were really unhelpful and, I think, unfounded comments. I think that's totally counter to the objective of the process and I think it's precisely what David was hoping would not happen when he applied for it to be done in private.

"Some of the comments that I think have added to this situation have clearly not been [Warner's] own, they've been via representatives. So I'm really keen to see how he's going and how he's feeling following his decision to withdraw."

Marnus Labuschagne and Travis Head rattled off punishing centuries as Australia dominated once more against West Indies, racking up 330-3 on day one of the second Test.

Top of the ICC batting rankings, the in-form Labuschagne put on a show as he reached 120 not out, while local hero Head joined him on three figures later in the day, finishing up on 114no at stumps.

They shared in a fourth-wicket partnership worth 199 and will resume on Friday looking to bat West Indies out of the match.

For Labuschagne, a third consecutive century and 10th of his Test career was complete when he cracked a boundary square of the wicket.

He was the more watchful of the hundred-makers, with Head more up front about his intentions, getting stuck into a mostly blunt West Indies attack and reaching three figures in just 125 balls, some 61 fewer than Labuschagne needed to reach his ton.

For Head, getting the job done brought obvious relief, after he was dismissed for 99 in the first match of the series in Perth. He brought up this century with a drive through mid-off for four, removing his helmet and waving to the Adelaide Oval crowd. Born in the South Australia city, this is his home ground and the century earned him the warmest of ovations.

After making 204 and 104no in the first Test, Labuschagne again mastered the West Indies attack. He came in at number three and shared in a stand of 95 with Usman Khawaja, who fell lbw to Devon Thomas for 62 to leave Australia 129-2 during the afternoon.

That soon became 131-3 when stand-in captain Steve Smith went for a duck, caught and bowled by Jason Holder, but from that point on it was all one way in Australia's favour.

Better late than never for Thomas

At the ripe cricketing age of 33, Thomas is a Test wicket-taker for the first time. A wicketkeeper by trade, he is not wearing the gloves in this game, his Test debut. With West Indies seeking to break the second-wicket alliance, Thomas was given a try with the ball by West Indies captain Kraigg Brathwaite and made the breakthrough.

Thomas made his international debut in the limited-overs formats all the way back in 2009, and lately he has been a familiar face in their T20I side, but this is his first opportunity in the five-day game. He was the seventh bowler used by West Indies on Thursday, finishing the day with 1-43 from nine overs.

Labuschagne does it again

Ten centuries in a batter's 30 Tests is great going by anyone's standards, so hats off to Labuschagne. Taking into account the second Test against Sri Lanka in Galle back in July, Labuschagne has made tons in four of his last five innings and his average has shot up to 61.81. He is 33 runs short of reaching 3,000 Test runs, which will be a target for day two.

David Warner's manager has claimed Australia players were encouraged to tamper with the ball after a hiding at the hands of South Africa 16 months before the scandal blew up.

Australia were thrashed by an innings and 80 runs in Hobart in November 2016, after being bowled out for 85 in their first innings.

James Erskine said Warner, his client, has been unfairly treated after his part in the sandpaper scandal at Newlands in March 2018, and pointed back to the Hobart game.

Opening batter Warner was banned from elite cricket for a year and from leadership positions for life after he was deemed to have been the instigator in the plot to alter the condition of the ball in Cape Town.

However, Erskine says there was more to the episode than has thus far come to light.

He told the SEN radio network: "When the truth comes out, everyone's going to turn around and say, 'Well, why was David Warner picked upon?'.

"The truth will come out. Let me tell you. Someone will... there's lots of people. There's two cricketers who put their hands up and said, 'Why don't we all just tell the truth? They can't fire all of us.'

"That's what happened. Two senior executives were in the changing rooms in Hobart and basically were berating the team for losing to South Africa.

"Warner said we've got to reverse-swing the ball, and the only way we can reverse-swing the ball is basically by tampering with it. So they were told to do it."

Erskine did not accuse the executives of being those responsible for giving the go-ahead to tamper with the ball.

He did, however, stress the three players punished for the scandal – Warner, Steve Smith and Cameron Bancroft – were far from the only people involved.

Erskine said: "You'd have to be a blind black labrador, there was far more than three people involved in this thing, they all got a canning and David Warner was completely villainised.

"He has shut up, he protected Cricket Australia, he protected his fellow players on my advice, because at the end of the day no one wanted to hear any more of it and he's got on playing cricket."

Cricket Australia has yet to comment on Erskine's latest claims.

Warner this week withdrew his appeal against a lifetime captaincy ban with Australia, saying he has no interest in "a public lynching" over his part in the controversy.

The 36-year-old, who has returned to favour since his ban, was given the chance to appeal against the decision after Cricket Australia's code of conduct changed in November, but has now confirmed he will no longer do so.

David Warner has withdrawn his appeal against a lifetime captaincy ban with Australia as he has no interest in "a public lynching" over his part in the ball-tampering scandal.

Opening batter Warner was banned from elite cricket for a year and from leadership positions for life in 2018 for his role in the sandpaper scandal at Newlands in 2018.

The 36-year-old expressed fears he would never play for his country again but has since returned to enjoy T20 World Cup success, coupled with an Ashes demolition of England.

Warner was given the chance to appeal against the decision after Cricket Australia's code of conduct changed in November, but he has now confirmed he will no longer do so.

In a lengthy social media post on the eve of Australia's second Test against West Indies, Warner said: "My family is more important to me than cricket.

"To some extent the Review Panel want to conduct a public trial of me and what occurred during the third Test at Newlands. 

"They want to conduct a public spectacle to, in the Panel's words, have a "cleansing". I am not prepared for my family to be the washing machine for cricket's dirty laundry.

"The Panel's given no more than passing consideration to issues of player welfare and the interests of Australian cricket and is instead determined to conduct a public lynching.

"Regrettably, I have no practical alternative at this point in time but to withdraw my application. 

"I'm not prepared to subject my family or my team-mates to further trauma and disruption by accepting a departure from the way in which my application should be dealt with pursuant to the Code of Conduct. Some things are more important than cricket."

Cricket Australia said it was disappointed with the outcome but respected Warner's decision.

"We are disappointed with this outcome as our intention was to give David the opportunity to demonstrate why his lifetime leadership ban should be varied at an independent hearing and we amended our Code of Conduct accordingly," Wednesday's statement read.

"We supported David's wish for these discussions to be heard behind closed doors and respect his decision to withdraw his application.

"David is a very senior and highly regarded member of the Australian team who has been a great ambassador for the game as a whole since his return from a year-long ban."

Marnus Labuschagne struck an unbeaten 154 to help Australia reach 293-2 on day one of their first Test with West Indies on Wednesday.

West Indies struggled to find answers at Optus Stadium in Perth, taking only the wickets of openers David Warner (5) and Usman Khawaja (65).

Australia, who have lost just one of their past eight Test series, were in trouble early on as Warner's lean streak in the longest format continued when he chopped on from Jayden Seales' wide delivery.

The home side were 9-1 when Labuschagne arrived at the crease, but he and Khawaja set about advancing their side to 72-1 by lunch and then kicked on.

Kyle Mayers gave West Indies a much-needed breakthrough when delivering a perfect ball that caught the edge of Khawaja's bat and was gathered by Joshua Da Silva.

The Khawaja-Labuschagne partnership may have ended at 142 runs, but the latter was not finished there as he struck 16 fours and a six en route to another huge score.

Steve Smith also chipped in with an unbeaten 59 while producing a 142-run stand of his own with Labuschagne, which they will look to build on when play resumes on Thursday.

Magical Marnus

Australia are undefeated in their past 11 Test series against West Indies, winning 10 of those and each of the past eight, and they already look great value to extend that streak.

Labuschagne was undoubtedly the star of the day with his eighth Test ton and he will now look to build on his unbeaten 154, which is the fourth-highest tally of his career.

Weak Warner

West Indies have won their past two Test series and they started well in Perth when sending Warner packing in the fourth over.

That was the Australia opener's fourth successive single figure dismissal in a home Test innings, and he will be grateful that Labuschagne in particular was able to bail him out.

David Warner believes he can stake a claim to play in Australia's next home ODI – even if that means he must wait until 2024.

The opener struck a terrific 106 in Australia's thumping win over England on Tuesday that sealed a 3-0 ODI series victory.

He joined Travis Head (156) in an opening partnership worth 269 runs, which set a record for the first wicket at the MCG.

Australia prevailed by 221 runs under Duckworth-Lewis-Stern rules at the Melbourne venue where nine days previously England celebrated winning the T20 World Cup. It was England's heaviest ODI defeat, runs-wise.

The latest century for left-hander Warner was his fifth against England and a first since the Boxing Day Test in 2017, taking him to 3,067 runs across all formats against Australia's great rivals.

That is the most runs he has scored against any opposition, albeit he has faced England 69 times and no other team on more than 50 occasions.

Indeed, Warner's all-formats batting average of 34.46 against England is the lowest he has achieved against any international team he has faced more than twice.

He was rightly jubilant to get to three figures this time, though, saying: "I think we played fantastic in this series.

"We know that with England [winning] the World Cup, and a long tournament, these games are quite hard to get up for.

"But we played exceptional cricket, the bowlers did a fantastic job and the batters just went out there and tried to execute as well as we could, especially in the power play, and we managed to do that."

Addressing a long wait for the next ODI to be played at home, which is set to come when West Indies tour in early 2024, Warner said: "Look, 2024 is a long time away. There's a lot of cricket to be played in-between there, obviously in all three formats.

"If I can keep keeping fit, scoring runs and doing the best I can for the team, yeah, I might be here."

Warner will turn 38 in October 2024 and has indicated he could retire from Tests after next year's Ashes series in England, but he evidently sees the short format as an area where he might sustain his career for longer.

England captain Jos Buttler is thriving as a limited-overs specialist, even if his team came a cropper during this series.

"We tried our best. We fell a long way short. I thought Australia outplayed us in every department and all credit to them," Buttler said.

Yet he and England will return home as world champions in cricket's shortest international format.

"We've got lots to be proud of," Buttler said. "You don't need a long memory to remember the scenes here last week. We got exactly what we wanted from coming here and we're very proud of that."

Travis Head and David Warner plundered stunning centuries as Australia crushed England by 221 runs at the MCG to seal a 3-0 ODI series sweep.

The openers forged an alliance of 269 runs as Australia posted 355-5 in a rain-interrupted match in Melbourne, with England only able to muster 142 all out in reply, suffering a third emphatic defeat.

Australia's innings was trimmed to 48 overs, which meant under the Duckworth–Lewis–Stern calculations England's target was set at 364 for victory, which they got nowhere near. Nine days after winning the T20 World Cup on the same ground, England's response to Australia's total was largely listless.

Head made an ODI career-best 152, while Warner was out for 106, his 19th century in this format. They put on the ninth-highest first-wicket stand in ODI history, second only for Australia to the 284 that Head and Warner themselves amassed in January 2017 against Pakistan.

It was their second 200-plus partnership, and only Sri Lanka's Mahela Jayawardene and Upul Tharanga, who have managed three, have achieved more as a pairing in ODIs.

Olly Stone eventually removed both openers in the same over, the 39th of Australia's innings, on the way to bowling figures of 4-85 from 10 overs.

England's opening partnership, in stark contrast, was worth only 15 runs, with Dawid Malan falling for just two to Josh Hazlewood in the third over. Jason Roy top scored with 33, as Adam Zampa took 4-31 in the rout.

Warner beats Hayden record

Warner now has 6,007 runs from 139 ODI innings, becoming the 10th Australian batter to reach 6,000 runs in the format. He has reached the milestone in the fewest innings of all Australians, beating Matthew Hayden's previous record of 154 innings.

Head rush

Head's 152 goes down as the second-highest score by an Australian player in the history of men's ODIs against England, bettered only by Shane Watson's unbeaten 161 in January 2011. The thrashing gave Australia's men just their second whitewash of England in a multi-game bilateral ODI series, 29 years after the first, also a 3-0 victory.

David Warner has welcomed the chance to have his lifetime ban from captaining Australia reviewed following a change in Cricket Australia's (CA) code of conduct, while lamenting the delay in allowing him to appeal.

CA ruled that the opening batter would never hold a leadership role again due to his part in the 2018 Newlands ball-tampering scandal.

Warner, who was said to have played a key role in Cameron Bancroft using sandpaper to alter the condition of the ball during the Test against South Africa in Cape Town, had been touted as a candidate to replace Aaron Finch as ODI skipper following his retirement from the format in September.

While Pat Cummins was named as Finch's successor last month, the door may be open to Warner captaining his country in the future after CA amended its code of conduct.

Players were previously unable to appeal against sanctions after accepting them, but Warner is relieved to have the opportunity to seek a review of his ban under a new policy.

"I'm not a criminal," Warner said on Monday. "You should get a right of an appeal at some stage. I understand that they put a ban in place, but banning someone for life, I think it's a bit harsh.

"Where it's been disappointing is it's taken this long to get to where it has. It was brought up in I think February this year. So it's been drawn out.

"It's traumatic for me and my family and everyone else that was involved in it. We haven't needed to go back into that detail. We don't need to relive what happened.

"But it's good to get in a position where we are now today. It gives me an opportunity to ring up the integrity unit to have a word to them and put forward my case of, I guess, the 100 hours [of community service] that I did in 2018.

"Basically, all this good behaviour stuff that I've done, I think I have to put forward, so I'm happy to do that."

In a statement released on Monday, CA said: "Players and support staff can now apply to have long-term sanctions modified.

"Any applications will be considered by a three-person review panel, comprising independent code of conduct commissioners, which must be satisfied that exceptional circumstances exist to justify modifying a sanction."

CA's new policy allows for the panel to modify punishments if it is felt the recipient has "demonstrated genuine remorse" or shown good behaviour since the ruling, while they will also consider the length of time which has passed since a sanction was issued.

England were consigned to a six-wicket defeat by Australia in the first one-day international four days after winning the T20 World Cup despite a brilliant Dawid Malan century.

Having succumbed to a group-stage exit as T20 World Cup holders on home soil, Australia took the first of three ODIs at Adelaide Oval on Thursday

Malan made a superb 134, but lacked support as Jos Buttler’s side posted 287-9 – Pat Cummins and Adam Zampa taking three wickets apiece.

That was not enough to take a 1-0 lead, with David Warner (86), Travis Head (69) and Steve Smith (80 not out) making half-centuries as Australia got home with 19 balls to spare.

England were reduced to 31-3 after new ODI captain Cummins, who replaced Aaron Finch, won the toss and put them in, the skipper removing Phil Salt before the returning Jason Roy was cleaned up by Mitchell Starc.

The tourists were up against it at 118-5 after skipper Buttler (29) offered Ashton Agar a simple catch in the 24th over, but Malan's best ODI knock gave them hope.

Agar denied Malan a six with an incredible leap over the rope, then caught the left-hander two balls later for his fellow spinner Zampa.

While Malan gave England something to defend, they failed to make early inroads with the ball as Warner and Head – taking Finch’s place at the top of the order – got Australia off to a flyer.

They drove the hosts to 147 without loss before Head was taken by Salt off the bowling of Chris Jordan, while David Willey instilled some belief with the quickfire dismissals of Warner and Marnus Labuschagne.

However, they were unable to see the back of the composed Smith as Australia eased to victory. 

Australia batters make light work of chase

Warner and Head's partnership of 147 was the second highest by an Australian opening pair against England in a men's ODI, falling narrowly short of the record of 163 set by Warner and Finch in January 2014.

Head will have been particularly keen to demonstrate his value after being drafted in following Finch's ODI retirement ahead of this series, and he now has a chance to cement his spot during a busy schedule before next year's ODI World Cup in India. 

Malan's efforts in vain

There were few positives for England to take following the high of being crowned T20 world champions for a second time at the MCG last weekend with a win over Pakistan.

Malan's hundred from only 128 balls, however, was a masterclass as he put the disappointment of not playing in the World Cup semi-final or final after sustaining a groin injury against Sri Lanka behind him. He struck four sixes and a further 12 boundaries.

David Warner could miss Australia's final T20 World Cup warm-up match against India on Monday through injury, but captain Aaron Finch is confident the batsman will be fit for the tournament.

Warner suffered an injury to his neck during the second T20I match against England on Wednesday, which forced him to miss the series finale on Friday – a match that was abandoned due to rain.

Finch is unsure whether his fellow opener will be fit enough to face India, but has no concerns over Warner's availability for the clash against New Zealand on October 22.

"I think he would definitely be right for New Zealand," Finch said. "I'm not sure about the warm-up game against India.

"I think he was okay the day after he hit his head and then the following day, his neck got really sore and stiff.

"We'll wait and see what it's like. If he's fit he'll play. If he's still a little bit sore, we'd err on the side of caution.

"I think when you've got experienced players who know what they need to do to be ready for a tournament, you're not too concerned whether they play that game or not."

Finch also confirmed Australia are taking it easy with all-rounders Marcus Stoinis and Mitchell Marsh in a bid to avoid injury flare-ups.

Stoinis missed both T20I series against India and the West Indies with a side injury he sustained in September, while Marsh has not bowled in a match since injuring an ankle in the ODI series against Zimbabwe in August.

"Stoinis, the reason he wasn't available to bowl yesterday was just prior injury history," Finch explained.

"Every time that he's tried to come back and ball back-to-back games coming off the same injury he has struggled and got a niggle on the back of it. So, we went with the conservative route there."

"Mitch has been building up his bowling at the moment.  He just hasn't been at the intensity to go into a game that's required especially so close to a World Cup."

David Warner could have his lifetime ban on captaining Australia lifted.

Cricket Australia (CA) ruled that the opening batter would never hold a leadership role again due to his part in the 2018 Newlands ball-tampering scandal.

Warner was seen to have been a main protagonist in Cameron Bancroft using sandpaper to try and alter the condition of the ball during the Test against South Africa in Cape Town four years ago.

The 35-year-old has been mentioned as a candidate to replace Aaron Finch as ODI skipper after he stepped down last month.

With CA directors looking at rewriting the governing body's code of ethics, Warner may get another opportunity to lead his country.

"The view within Cricket Australia is that David is doing particularly well on the field and making a great contribution off the field," CA chairman Lachlan Henderson said. 

"The first step in terms of David's leadership ban is to review the code and see if those sanctions are able to be reviewed. And the appropriate revisions to that code that would need to be made.

Henderson added: "Our intention is to review the code as quick as is practical. It's not in anyone's interest for us to delay that. It would be in time for any future leadership conversations in relation to David."

Finch remains Australia's T20 captain for the World Cup on home soil.

England's T20 World Cup preparations are on track after an entertaining win by eight runs in the first match of their T20I series against Australia on Sunday.

Openers Jos Buttler (68) and Alex Hales (84) were central to England setting a commanding target of 209 in Perth, with their stand of 132 almost double that of any other partnership for either team.

No one else managed more than 13 for England, but Chris Woakes (13 not out from five) provided a late injection to help them pass 200 and set Australia a significant target.

Australia's response was valiant. David Warner (73) looked sharp, aided by Mitchell Marsh (36) and Marcus Stoinis. During the latter's 35 off just 15 balls, Australia looked to have turned the tide.

Mark Wood (3-34) was key to disrupting Australia's momentum as he claimed the scalps of Stoinis and Warner, though the hosts still went into the final over knowing 16 runs would seal victory.

Matthew Wade's (21) four at the start of the last over stoked hope, but Sam Curran ensured there was no dramatic late turnaround with two wickets in the space of three balls.

Hales a double threat

While Curran played an important part at the end and Buttler gave England's innings some real potency, Hales starred both with the bat and in the field.

Hales' match-high score came from 51 balls as he found a fine balance between power and composure to hang around until the 16th over, while he also made two catches.

Curran repays the faith

Having the ball for the final over was not only a show of faith, but also a real test for Curran – Australia's target of 16 at that point was hardly inconceivable.

But he held his nerve, eventually claiming two wickets and seeing England over the line in an exciting finish to the first of three clashes between the sides.

David Warner made a blistering half-century and Mitchell Starc starred as Australia beat West Indies by 31 runs at The Gabba to seal a 2-0 Twenty20 International series whitewash.

Holders Australia continued their preparations for the T20 World Cup on home soil with another victory in Brisbane on Friday, Warner making 75 off 41 balls and Tim David 42 from just 20 deliveries in their total of 178-7.

The Windies could only muster 147-8 in reply, Starc the pick of the bowlers with 4-20 and Pat Cummins (2-32) taking his 50th Twenty20 International wicket.

Australia will now travel to Perth for the start of a three-match T20I series against England on Sunday, while West Indies will have to come through their first-round group to qualify for a World Cup Super 12 spot.

The excellent Alzarri Joseph (3-21) dismissed Cameron Green in the second over, but Warner and Aaron Finch got Australia up to 45-1 at the end of the powerplay.

Warner raced to his half-century in 30 balls, but was caught and bowled by Odean Smith in the 12th over after captain Finch fell for a scratchy 15.

Glenn Maxwell was run out for only one and Steve Smith (17) was bowled by Joseph, but David cleared the rope three times in a swashbuckling knock to give Australia some impetus before he was trapped lbw by Obed McCoy (2-33).

Kyle Mayers was brilliantly caught and bowled by Starc in the first over of the Windies' run chase, but Johnson Charles and Brandon King steadied the ship with a stand of 50.

Adam Zampa redeemed himself for dropping Charles on two by getting King (23) stumped and Starc returned to see the back of Nicholas Pooran.

An unconvincing knock from Charles (29) was ended by Green as the wickets continued to tumble, Starc doing the bulk of the damage as Akeal Hosein's knock of 25 came with the Windies never really looking like squaring the series.

Warner sets the tone

Opener Warner was outstanding at the top of the order, laying the foundations for a total that proved to be too big for the Windies to chase down.

He demonstrated his great power and sweet timing, striking three sixes and hitting another 10 boundaries as he registered a brilliant 23rd half-century for his country in the shortest format.

Starc fires, Cummins brings up half-century

Australia will be relying on Starc to be firing on all cylinders when they attempt to retain the World Cup and he bowled beautifully in Brisbane, with a mixture of control and variety.

Cummins was more expensive, but the Test captain reached the 50 T20I wickets landmark in his 44th match.