7 players who scored a triple century this decade before David Warner

David Warner has grabbed a lot of the recent cricket headlines.

In November the Australian smashed a memorable 335 (off 418 balls) against Pakistan at the Adelaide Oval. Warner dominated the young Pakistani bowling attack from start to finish. The innings, which featured cover drives, orthodox cut shots and upper cuts, was decorated with 39 fours and one six.

The marathon knock, which was the eighth 300-plus score by an Australian, was made possible by Warner's superb fitness, excellent concentration and quick run-scoring.

Warner was the eighth batsman to score a triple century this decade. Here, we take a look at the seven who did it before him.

#1 Chris Gayle (November 2010 vs Sri Lanka)

Despite the incredible amount of success that he has achieved (the most runs and centuries in T20 cricket, the fastest IPL century, the first ever World Cup double hundred etc), Chris Gayle has a simple approach to batting. Using minimal foot movement, Gayle has a long reach as well as tremendous power that enable him to hit the ball to the boundary more often than not.

The West-Indian is widely regarded as a destructive batsman. He is very difficult to get out once set and is therefore not a stranger towards amassing tall scores.

In fact, Gayle has scored two Test triple centuries so far. The latest one of those was registered at the start of this decade.

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The scene for this special feat was Galle, where Sri Lanka faced the touring West-Indians. After the tourists had won the toss and elected to bat first, Gayle (who opened the innings in the Test) survived a few close calls at the start of his innings.

But he grew in confidence as he spent more time at the crease. When in his 70s, the left-hander had the temerity to play two consecutive reverse-sweep shots – both went for four. Gayle brought up his century late on day one.

Resuming on his overnight score of 146, Gayle was more circumspect on day two but still deposited the poor deliveries to the boundary. When on 287, he earned a reprieve as he was caught off a no-ball. Gayle made full use of his lucky break and reached his triple century soon after.

After he realized his special achievement, the big man went down onto his knees and raised his bat with a huge smile plastered on his face. He was clearly enjoying the moment, and why not? He had earned it.

#2 Michael Clarke (January 2012 vs India)

Michael Clarke, the former Australian captain who represented his country in 115 Test matches, was the second batsman to score a triple century this decade.

Clarke achieved the feat in January 2012 against a good Indian bowling attack (which consisted of Zaheer Khan, Umesh Yadav, Ishant Sharma and Ravichandran Ashwin) at Sydney Cricket Ground.

Australia won the toss in sunny conditions and, as expected, decided to bat. It seemed like the wrong decision at first as they were reduced to a precarious 37-3.

But Clarke then turned Australia’s fortunes around completely. Coming in at number five, he decided to be positive and it worked.

The right-hander showed superb timing and balance from the start of his innings. He played a few sumptuous cover drives to the delight of the crowd, which enabled the scoreboard to keep moving.

By the time Clark had 150 runs to his name; India’s bowlers had been in the field for the majority of the day and were tired. He took full advantage of that; a good example was when he dispatched a waist-high ball from Zaheer Khan to the mid-wicket boundary with authority.

When his 288-run partnership for the fourth wicket with Ricky Ponting ended, Clarke found another able partner in Michael Hussey. The pair never looked flustered at the crease and raced past 550 runs (for the team).

Clarke reached his triple century soon after and then deservedly received a rapturous ovation. When Australia declared their innings on 659-4, Clarke was still unbeaten on 329.

#3 Hashim Amla (July 2012 vs England)

At the end of Hashim Amla’s marathon innings at the Oval, England cricket fans would have been thoroughly tired of the sight of his batting. But they would have also been full of respect for his unwavering temperament.

Amla looked like an unmovable fort during his 529-ball stay at the crease. England threw everything they had at him, but he remained unperturbed and refused to get out.

When South Africa declared their innings on 637-2, Amla still looked capable of doing much more – which spoke volumes of his excellent concentration.

Let us relive his incredible innings.

…

The match under discussion was the first Test between England and the touring South Africans in July 2012. England batted first and scored 385 all out, but their total was made to look paltry when Amla and South Africa started dominating.

Amla came to the crease with the score on 1-1 and, in an attempt to see off the new ball, waited patiently at the start. Once the ball got older, the right-hander capitalized on any width that England offered him.

Amla and Graeme Smith looked very comfortable at the crease during their 259-run partnership. When Smith was dismissed, Amla carried on the destruction with Jacques Kallis as his partner.

Amla played some elegant front-foot drives throughout his innings. After batting for 186.2 overs, he reached the 300-run mark with a lofted drive.

Although it was a historic occasion (he was the first South African to score a triple century), there were no wild celebrations, fist-pumping, shouting or anything of that sort. Instead, Amla calmly walked over to his batting partner and raised his bat with a contented smile on his face.

That described him in a nutshell: cool, calm and collected.

#4 Kumar Sangakkara (February 2014 vs Bangladesh)

Kumar Sangakkara is the fourth player on this list. The world-class batsman, who averaged an outstanding 57.40 In 134 Tests for Sri Lanka, scored a mammoth 319 against Bangladesh at Chattogram.

Sri Lanka won the toss and elected to bat on a slow pitch that offered some assistance to spinners. Sangakkara came in to bat at the fall of the first wicket (39-1), and he could score his runs at a rapid rate right from the word go because of Bangladesh's wayward bowling.

Their spinners bowled too short on three occasions, and each time Sangakkara rocked back in his crease and dispatched the ball for six.

The left-hander was well supported by Mahela Jayawardene (72 runs). They were rarely put under pressure because the Bangladesh bowlers gave them a plethora of bad balls to work with.

Sangakkara reached his triple century in style as he charged down the pitch and smashed a huge six over the leg-side boundary (to make the score 564-9). He was eventually last man out as Sri Lanka were bowled out for 587.

#5 Brendon McCullum (February 2014 against India)

Brendon McCullum evading a bouncer during his incredible 302

Only two weeks later Brendon McCullum, the former New Zealand captain who led his team to the World Cup 2015 final, emulated Sangakkara when he smashed 302 at Wellington. McCullum’s innings, apart from the large number of runs he scored, was extremely impressive because of the adversity he had to face along the way.

India won the toss and elected to bowl first in the second and last Test between the two sides. Ishant Sharma, who snared six wickets, troubled the New Zealand batsmen on a seaming pitch and they were skittled out for 192 runs (no one scored more than 50). India then earned a huge first innings lead of 246 runs.

By the time McCullum came to the crease (with three wickets down and still 194 runs behind India), his side was in deep trouble.

But what happened next was incredible in every sense of the word. McCullum and BJ Watling completely changed the momentum of the match with a 348-run partnership.

Although the runs came at a leisurely tempo (McCullum brought up his half-century off 170 balls and Watling his century off 297 balls), the two spent valuable time at the crease. They showed great determination and courage to turn the match on its head.

Because of their heroic effort, New Zealand drew the match instead of losing it.

#6 Azhar Ali (October 2016 vs West Indies)

Azhar Ali walks off the field after his marathon innings

Azhar Ali, who made his Test debut for Pakistan in July 2010, quickly became renowned for his ever-lasting patience. Therefore it did not come as a major surprise when Ali scored a triple century in 2016.

The milestone was achieved in a pink-ball Test match against West Indies at Dubai.

Ali opened the batting with Sami Aslam and piled on 215 runs for the first wicket to dent their opponents’ confidence.

The right-hander started slowly but once the West Indies bowlers got impatient and started bowling loose ones, he became more aggressive. Ali relished the short length that his opponents bowled and, to prove that, played a few superb back foot punches and pull shots.

When Aslam was dismissed, the rest of the batting order supported Ali to the magical 300-run mark. Once he had completed his celebrations, Pakistan declared their innings on 579-3. Ali’s score of 302 not out was instrumental in Pakistan’s eventual 56-run win.

#7 Karun Nair (December 2016 vs England)

To score 300 on any occasion is noteworthy, but to achieve it in one’s third Test is extra-special. At that early stage of a player’s career, he is perhaps still unsure of his ability to succeed at the highest level.

But that was not the case with Karun Nair. The talented Karnataka batsman surprised everybody when he smashed a gargantuan 303 not out in the fifth Test against England at Chennai.

India, who batted first in the match, got off to an excellent start and were on 211-3 when Nair came to the crease. He started slowly but once he got past 60, unleashed his full repertoire of shots - such as the sweep, reverse sweep, front-foot drive and upper cut. He played England’s spin trio of Moeen Ali, Adil Rashid and Liam Dawson particularly well.

Nair brought up his double century off 306 balls and thereafter had some fun. He even played a few upper cuts over the slips, much to the delight of the Indian supporters.

Nair reached his triple hundred, off 381 balls, with a cut shot. India declared immediately with their score on 759-7 and Nair unbeaten on 303.