As the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) took on the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) at the Eden Gardens, most of the fans were looking forward to seeing David Warner. The Aussie lad was making a comeback in the Indian Premier League (IPL) after a gap of one year. He received the ban by Cricket Australia (CA) for a period of one year while the IPL governing council too followed the suit. His comeback became unlucky for the visitors as KKR sealed the game by 6 wickets.
Warner wasted no time in unleashing himself in the Orange jersey. He smashed two boundaries off Piyush Chawla in the second over. He continued to score boundaries for the Sunrisers as he even smashed Sunil Narine for two consecutive boundaries. Warner reached his fifty in style with a six on a short ball by Andre Russell.
ALSO READ: Twitterati Lauds David Warner For A Brilliant Knock
The Australian southpaw went on to register his 37th half-century in the IPL, which is the highest by any cricketer as he surpassed Gautam Gambhir‘s tally of 36. However, that didn’t stop him as he and Jonny Bairstow put up a 118-run partnership for the opening wicket. Warner’s knock was cut short as Robin Uthappa held onto a superlative of a catch.
Scoring 85 runs from 53 balls, the innings included nine boundaries and three sixes. While he came close to scoring a century, it was no less for the Sunrisers. The visitors got a spectacular platform to begin with. It also allowed Vijay Shankar to go all all-out as SRH managed to put up 181/3 on board in the first innings.
The run-chase didn’t start on a happy note as Shakib Al Hasan, who celebrated his 32nd birthday and also had the privilege of ringing the bell before the match, got rid of the dangerous Chris Lynn in the second over. Thereafter, Robin Uthappa and Nitish Rana put their heads down and added 80 runs together. The partnership was broken by Siddarth Kaul, who scored 35 from 27 balls.
WATCH – Uthappa Takes A Superlative Catch To Dismiss Warner
Nevertheless, Rana showed some intent by scoring went on to notch a half-century in 35 balls, but he still had a fair amount to do as the required-rate mounted at an alarming rate. Dinesh Karthik was the third wicket to fall to Sandeep Sharma. Rashid Khan dismissed Rana after he scored 68 runs. Then came in Russell and turned the game on its head with a knock of 49 runs from 19 balls. Shubman Gill also chipped in with 18 from 10 balls.
Brief Scores:
Sunrisers Hyderabad – 181/3 (D Warner: 85, V Shankar: 40; A Russell: 3/32) defeated by Kolkata Knight Riders – 183/4 (N Rana: 68; ) by 6 wicket
Here is how Twitterati reacted after SRH’s win:
Glad to see @davidwarner31 back with a punch. Shows tremendous character #KKRvSRH
— Hemang Badani (@hemangkbadani) March 24, 2019
When the good balls get hit for boundaries you know the quality of batsmanship , just what the doctor ordered on a comeback for #DavidWarner excellent from VijayShankar too intent from ball one 👏🏼 ..#KKRvsSRH #IPL #IPL2019 #BadriBytes
— S.Badrinath (@s_badrinath) March 24, 2019
Absolutely not surprised by Warner’s immediate return to form. He is simply put… just a class act…Really thrilled for him.👏👏👏🙏#welcomeBackWarner#IPL2019
— Sanjay Manjrekar (@sanjaymanjrekar) March 24, 2019
Warner didn’t go anywhere…right?? Warner has issued a strong warning… #KKRvSRH #IPL
— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) March 24, 2019
warner is so much better off smashing the ball than finding ways to tamper with it #KKRvSRH
— Gaurav Kalra (@gauravkalra75) March 24, 2019
David Warner looks in superb touch at Eden Gardens. Brings up fifty on his IPL return inside nine overs with barely a false stroke along the way. #KKRvSRH
— Matthew Taylor (@MattyA_Taylor) March 24, 2019
Andre Russell gives the world cricketing lessons on how one should chase down a tough total. And Shubman Gill showing his class and nerves in the very last over. What an incredible game! #IPL #IPL2019 #KKRvSRH
— Aadil Bandukwala (@aadil) March 24, 2019
Extraordinary turnaround at the Eden through Andre Russell’s blazing bat. Gill finishing match with two soaring sixes was icing on the cake for KKR.
— Cricketwallah (@cricketwallah) March 24, 2019
https://twitter.com/JavaidSpeaks/status/1109823516709404672
19 off Siddarth Kaul's over
21 off Bhuvi's overAndre Russell on fire 49* off 19. Shubman Gill 18* off 10. #KKR beat #SRH by 6 wickets. Unbelievable run chase. 👏#KKRvSRH
— Sir Jadeja fan (@SirJadeja) March 24, 2019
His Instagram profile reads – Am a big deal – NO, @Russell12A – You’re the biggest bloody deal .. The @IPL is here … #KKRvSRH
— Jatin Sapru (@jatinsapru) March 24, 2019
Showing his muscles 💪 @Russell12A What a knock @IPL #SRHvKKR well done @RealShubmanGill
— Harbhajan Turbanator (@harbhajan_singh) March 24, 2019
That Andre Russell innings – as KKR scored 54 in their last 16 balls to win – distils why power hitting can make ground fielding, and smart running between the wickets, irrelevant in T20. Power hitting like that makes '1 percenters' irrelevant
— Tim Wigmore (@timwig) March 24, 2019
