Warner Shines At The Top As SunRisers Defeat Royal Challengers
Living to fight again: Warner shines at the top as SunRisers defeat Royal Challengers By [/home/search.html?s=&authornamef=Rahul+Rawat Rahul Rawat]
Published: 22:01 BST, 20 May 2014 | Updated: 00:26 BST, 21 May 2014
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comments] A clinical performance by the SunRisers Hyderabad top order ensured a seven-wicket victory against Royal Challengers Bangalore on Tuesday, keeping them in the hunt for the play-offs.
Chasing a target of 161 after Virat Kohli's (67) first half-century of the tournament, SunRisers got home in 19.4 overs as Shikhar Dhawan returned to form with a stroke-filled 50.
While Dhawan started the chase in right earnest, David Warner, back in the opening slot, smashed his way to a 46- ball-59.
David Warner of the Sunrisers Hyderabad plays a shot during match 46 of the Pepsi Indian Premier League Season 2014
Skipper Darren Sammy smashed a six in the penultimate over bowled by the erratic Varun Aaron to turn the game in his team's favour.
Both SunRisers and RCB have 10 points from 12 games, but Kohli's men are a place ahead at fifth with a better net run rate.
SunRisers' opening pair of Dhawan and Warner put on 100 in 12.3 overs before the former was run out.
The 50 off the stand had come in the sixth over. Warner was out off a full toss from Aaron, but Naman Ojha, Aaron Finch and Sammy saw to it that there were no hiccups in the end.
Earlier RCB captain Kohli was back in form as Bangalore scored a respectable 160 for six after opting to bat.
Kohli's 67 off 41 balls was studded with four boundaries and as many sixes.
A.B. de Villiers and Yuvraj Singh made small contributions.
It was largely due to Kohli's knock that RCB scored 112 runs in the back 10 having crawled to 48 for two in the first 10 overs.
Purple Cap-holder Bhuvneshwar Kumar was again the best bowler for the SunRisers with two for 27 in four overs.
Parvez Rasool, playing his first game of the tournament replacing Amit Mishra, soulofcricketer.mystrikingly.com also had more than a decent outing with figures of one for 26.
The first half certainly belonged to Kohli, who came in early after Parthiv Patel was caught plumb in front by Bhuvneshwar.
He took a few balls to settle down, but then played some signature shots through the off-side.
The two significant partnership that Kohli was involved in were 57 for the third wicket with Yuvraj and, more importantly, 61 in only 5.1 overs with de Villiers.
Kohli got to his 50 off 34 balls.
He was out in the 18th over trying to hit Irfan Pathan out of the ground and was caught by Dale Steyn. De Villiers also followed suit but Sachin Rana hit a couple of boundaries to take the score to 160.
However, it proved to be inadequate.
Table-toppers Punjab finally get to play at 'home'
Virat Kohil's classy 67 went in vain for RCB
By Rahul Rawat in Mohali
It's strange how Kings XI Punjab, who at the start of the season were thought to be too dependent on their foreign recruits, have evolved as a team.
On the contrary, defending champions Mumbai Indians lost the plot at the start of the season and something miraculous will have to happen for them to make it to the playoffs.
Kings XI Punjab will play their first 'real' home game at the PCA Stadium on Wednesday against the Mumbai Indians, who still harbour hopes of sneaking into the knockouts.
When the season was at its nascent stage in the UAE, Glenn Maxwell was the most feared name for the opposition but with time, the Indian players have also grown in confidence which has resulted in Punjab's unstoppable surge.
Virender Sehwag, who was miserable with the Delhi Daredevils last season, has found a fresh lease of life and has been consistent with the starts he has given to the team.
With time, Wriddhiman Saha, Manan Vohra and Akshar Patel have also made some match-winning contributions.
The team is no longer relying on Maxwell, South African David Miller, or captain George Bailey.
