Warner’s 59ball 126 floors leaders KKR
Sunrisers skipper hits joint fifth fastest IPL ton to take holders to highestever total; tabletoppers find the target too far despite a fighting show on both sides of the rain break
David Warner smashed his third Indian Premier League century with a stunning 59-ball 126 to power defending champions Sunrisers Hyderabad to a 48-run victory against Kolkata Knight Riders on Sunday.
Sunrisers Hyderabad skipper Warner’s was at his punishing best as he took apart the Kolkata Knight Riders bowling, showcasing his team’s superiority on home turf as well to help post a record total of 209 for three.
Warner struck the fifth fastest IPL century, off just 43 balls, which also saw Sunrisers Hyderabd post the highest total any team has against the twice former champions.
Sunrisers Hyderabad bowlers then took over, restricting Knight Riders to 161 for 7 at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium.
Sunrisers, who have won all their five home matches, are third and KKR remain on top of the points table.
Kolkata Knight Riders were 52/2 in seven overs when rain forced the players off the pitch and Manish Pandey and Robin Uthappa both fell in quick succession on resumption to give SRH control.
RAINING BOUNDARIES
Australia opener David Warner smashed 10 fours and eight sixes to utterly dominate a 139-run opening partnership with Shikhar Dhawan, who made 29 (30 balls, 4x2, 6x1) while playing a perfect supporting role.
His stunning show left his peers in awe.
Virat Kohli was among the early ones off the block. “Wow @davidwarner31 Unbelievable. This is power hitting at its very best,” he said. Warner’s national skipper, Steve Smith, Brendon McCullum and R Ashwin all showered praise on the Aussie.
Warner was on the verge of surpassing his highest Twenty20 score of 135 not out when he miscued a slower delivery from Chris Woakes to be caught by rival skipper Gautam Gambhir at cover in the 17th over.
Only opening bowlers Nathan Coulter-Nile and Umesh Yadav had an economy rate of less than 10 as all others felt the fury of Warner. Chris Woakes’ third over went for 17, and so did Yusuf Pathan’s next as Gambhir tried to use spin to stop the early attack.
Left-arm chinaman bowler Kuldeep Yadav was unlucky not to snare the rampaging Warner after Woakes only managed to help a tough chance over for six. Warner made KKR pay, hitting Kuldeep for 4, 6 and 6 to reach 98 before taking two off Umesh Yadav to reach his century.
Dhawan was run out in the 13th over, but Kane Williamson joined his trans-Tasman teammate to add another 32 runs for the second wicket. The Kiwi skipper blasted a 25-ball 40 in the end before being run out off the last delivery.
Uthappa led the fightback after KKR openers Sunil Narine (1) and Gambhir (11) fell cheaply, with Manish Pandey for company.
When play resumed, no overs had been docked and KKR needed 158 off 78 balls, or 13 overs.
But with the pressure to go after the bowling, Manish Pandey (39 – 29b) was caught and bowled by Bhuvneshwar Kumar and then Uthappa (53 – 28 b, 4x4, 4x6) too fell, giving SRH a firm grip on the game.
WARNER WAS ON THE VERGE OF SURPASSING HIS HIGHEST TWENTY20 SCORE OF 135 NOT OUT WHEN HE MISCUED A SLOWER DELIVERY FROM CHRIS WOAKES