IPL 9 Match 15, Review: Warner, Dhawan trounce Gujarat Lions by 10 wickets

Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) finally seems to have got on the winning track after they registered a thumping 10 wicket over the unbeaten Gujarat Lions (GL) at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Rajkot.

SRH, who struggled at the start of the tournament, losing the first two games hands down, displayed a highly dominating style of cricket and outclassed the home team in all departments.

It was a day full of positives for the SRH side. First of all, The SRH bowlers led by Bhuvneswar Kumar (4/29) did a wonderful job and restricted the Lions for just 135/8 after 20 overs. Skipper David Warner once again led from the front with his magnificent 48 balls 74 run knock. But it was Shikhar Dhawan’s return to form that would excite the SRH fans. The left-hander stroked a calm 41 ball 53 run knock, playing the support role to Warner.

Chasing 136 runs to win, Warner began with a bang, slamming boundaries at regular intervals. He contributed the majority of runs in the first half while Dhawan resorted to a defensive approach. The early attacking spree from Warner saw the SRH side raced to 63/0 by the end of the powerplay.

Warner continued to blaze and reached his 3rd half-century of the season an over later, consuming just 29 balls. As the game progressed, Dhawan also began to free himself.

The match was as good as over by the time the SRH reached half-way mark of the game. Warner took the backseat for some time as Dhawan turned on his aggression, taking his team swiftly towards victory with a couple of hits to the boundary. Eventually, the SRH side overhauled the target in the 15th over as Warner cracking a four for the winning runs.

Earlier, skipper Suresh Raina (75 from 51 balls) single-handedly guided Gujarat Lions to a functional total. It was a damp day for opener Aaron Finch after he was undone by a fabulous inswinger from Bhuvneshwar Kumar in the first over. Finch, is in red-hot form after having struck 3 consecutive fifties, couldn’t even open his account and departed for a duck.

Brendon McCullum (18 from 17 balls) seemed to be completely struggling against the guile of Mustafizur Rahman and batted sloppily. However, he opened up in the next over and eased the pressure on him by attacking Barinder Sran in the following over. He along with Raina put on a 56 run stand for the 2nd wicket. But, his fireworks could not continue for long as left-arm spinner Bipul Sharma dismissed Mccullum in the 8th over.

Dinesh Kartik (8 from 9 balls) and Dwayne Bravo (8 from 12 balls) were highly disappointing and could not help Raina in building the team innings.

Warner employed his death over specialists Bhuvi and Mustafizur immediately as the death overs approached. Both were, as usual, very effective and strangled the already faltering Gujarat Lions innings.

The newlywed Ravindra Jadeja hung around with the southpaw for a brief 26 run stand. But, Mustafizur’s off-cutter claimed yet another victim for his master after he foxed Jadeja to play a false shot, getting him clean bowled in the 17th over.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar (4/29) gave a perfect ending to his outstanding day after he snapped three wickets in the last over of the Lions innings. After being hit for a four off the first ball by Raina, Bhuvi retaliated by making him depart.

He added another wicket to his tally after he dismissed young Akshdeep Nath off the following delivery. Steyn averted the hat-trick but Bhuvi ended on a high after managed to dismiss the same man a couple balls later, restricting the Lion to a below-par score on a good batting track.

Brief Scores:

Gujarat Lions: 135/8 in 20 overs (Suresh Raina 75; B Kumar 4/29)

Sunrisers Hyderabad: 137/0 in 14.5 overs (David Warner 74; D Kulkarni 0/9)

Man of the Match: David Warner

Also, Read – Twitter Reactions: Gujarat Lions lose their first game in IPL