David Warner slams Century on his 100th Test appearance to emulate Ricky Ponting

Melbourne, Dec 27: David Warner ended his three-year drought of a century in Test cricket by slamming a ton on his 100th appearance for Baggy Greens on Tuesday (December 25).

On Day two of the Boxing Day Test against South Africa, the explosive left-handed batter reached his three figures in just 144 balls, pulling a Kagiso Rabada delivery down to fine leg for a boundary, and receiving a rapturous Melbourne applause.

Warner emulates Ponting

Warner - who was under a lot of pressure to perform - proved the doubters wrong with an innings to remember and entered an elite club of legendary cricketers.

The left-handed opener became only the tenth player to score a ton in their 100th Test match, joining Ricky Ponting as the second Australian to achieve the feat. Ponting is the only player to make dual centuries in a 100th Test appearance.

Warner achieves Test milestones

Warner passed the 8000 Test run mark in the innings, doing so at an average of over 46, also passing Mark Waugh as Australia's 7th-most prolific run-scorer in the format.

Just seven batters boast more than the 25 Test centuries for Australia than the 36-year-old left-hander, who joins Pakistan great Inzamam-ul-Haq on the mark.

Beginning the day on 32*, Warner looked in good touch in the early moments against the acclaimed Proteas attack, accelerating with multiple boundaries.

A mix-up cost Marnus Labuschagne his wicket at the other end, though Warner continued alongside Steve Smith in Australia's assault on either side of lunch, as the hosts moved into a strong position.

Building on a strong first day with the ball, the Aussies have now taken a first-innings lead, and look on the way to taking both the dozen World Test Championship points and an unassailable 2-0 series lead.

Other records were broken by Warner

Warner's 25th ton is the fifth-highest among openers in Test Cricket. He's only behind Graeme Smith (27), Matthew Hayden (30), Alastair Cook (31), and Sunil Gavaskar (33).

This was also his 45th century across formats, which is the second-most among active players after Virat Kohli (72).

His 45th international ton is the joint-most as openers which puts his name alongside the legendary Sachin Tendulkar.