AGENCIES
RAJKOT
David Warner led the Sunrisers Hyderabad to a crushing ten-wicket victory against the Gujarat Lions in their Indian Premier League match at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Rajkot on Thursday.
Warner finished on 74 not out from just 48 balls with nine fours while opening partner Shikhar Dhawan playing an only slightly junior role with an unbeaten 53 from 41 deliveries with five fours as the table-topping Gujarat Lions came tumbling back to earth in the most emphatic way.
The Lions were asked to bat first and captain Suresh Raina played a lone hand in leading his team to a below par total of 135-8 before holing out in the final over for an excellent 75 from 51 deliveries (9x4) but the next highest score was Brendan McCullum’s sluggish 18 from 17 balls.
Bhuveshwar Kumar claimed three wickets in the final over, all caught in the deep, to finish with a fine return of 4-29 from his four overs although Bangladeshi left arm seamer Mustafizur Rahman was the pick of the attack with 1-19 from four deceptive overs.
Aaron Finch earned three successive man of the match awards with three match-winning half centuries before this match but departed for a fourth ball duck when Bhuvneshwar swung the ball between bat and pad to hit off stump. McCullum’s lean start to the tournament continued when a slog sweep against spinner Bipul Sharma found seep midwicket for 18 from 17 balls and Dinesh Karthik (8) swept a full toss from offspinner Deepak Hooda straight to deep square leg.
Dwayne Bravo (8 from 12 balls) also fell victim to the unusually long boundaries at the Rajkot ground when another legside heave against left arm seamer landed gently in Bhuveshwar’s hands at deep square leg. But it was an excellent batting surface, a fact made emphatically clear by Warner and Dhawan who were untroubled during a modest run chase.
