IPL 9, Qualifier 2 Review: Warner leads Sunrisers Hyderabad to the grand finale

It was the mega clash between the Sunrisers Hyderabad and the Gujarat Lions at the Feroz Shah Kotla in New Delhi when the two teams locked horns in the Qualifier 2 of the IPL 2016. The equation was simple – win the game and go to the finals; the loser gets nothing. It was a knockout game and the teams were surely up for it.

The Sunrisers surely had the upper hand, having played their last game here and winning it convincingly. On the other hand, the Lions had suffered a defeat at the hands of RCB in their previous encounter.

The story of the qualifier was pretty much the same that has been for the Sunrisers Hyderabad and Gujarat Lions all this season long. Gujarat depended heavily on its top order that failed to click and the onus was on Aaron Finch to do the business. For the Sunrisers, as has been throughout the season on most occasions, it was David Warner leading from the front to seal the game for his team.

Earlier in the day, it was skipper Warner, who won the toss and elected to field first. The Sunrisers had a major dent in their line up as their star bowler Mustafizur Rahman couldn’t make it to the playing XI following a hamstring strain. Trent Boult got his first game of the season.

How did Twitter react to the game? – Twitter Reactions: Warner’s lightning knock takes SRH through to the final

The Lions sprung up a surprise when Eklavya Dwivedi was sent in to open the innings with Brendon McCullum. The experiment, however, lasted just 5 balls and Dwivedi was sent packing on 5 in the first over itself by Bhuvneshwar Kumar. Boult then quickly removed the GL skipper Suresh Raina for just 1. The old horses Dinesh Karthik and McCullum then put on a crucial 44-run stand, albeit on a slower note. They could put on just 38 in the powerplay.

DK’s resistance came to an end when Trent Boult inflicted a brilliant run out to dismiss him on 26 off 19 in the 9th over. A couple of overs later, McCullum too, was sent packing by Bipul Sharma on 32 off 29 balls. The next over saw the dangerman Dwayne Smith depart for just 1 and the Lions had lost half their side with 83 runs on the board in the 13th over. It was Aaron Finch, who then singlehandedly led the counter attack and thwacked the SRH bowlers to all parts of the stadium.

He brought up his half century in the process in just 31 balls, however, couldn’t add more to it and was dismissed by Ben Cutting. His 50 off 32 was embellished with 7 fours and 2 sixes. Cameos from Ravindra Jadeja (19*) and Dwayne Bravo (20) saw the Lions post a decent total of 162/7 on the board in their stipulated 20 overs.

The Sunrisers Hyderabad began their run chase in style, as David Warner hit the first ball of the innings for a boundary. However, the first ball of the next over saw Shikhar Dhawan being run out for a duck after a terrible mix-up in the middle. Moises Henriques (11) and Yuvraj Singh (8) couldn’t do much on the night of the knockouts and went back cheaply. The collapse wasn’t over yet as Deepak Hooda, after showing a lot of promise in the last match, perished for just 4.

Shivil Kaushik was the chief destroyer for the Lions on the night as he got rid of Ben Cutting for just 8, after having already picked up Yuvraj earlier. Just like GL, Sunrisers too were struggling at 84/5 in the 13th over. However, something that was heavily in their favor was that their skipper was still standing in the middle while wickets tumbled at the other end.

Amidst all that Warner brought up yet another half century in the season. He continued parading like a lone ranger. Naman Ojha was dismissed soon on just 10. Bipul Sharma walked in and played the perfect hand for his captain. Few lusty blows in the stands and the pressure was off the SRH camp. Needing 24 off the last two, the ball was given to Dwayne Bravo. Bravo had the figures of 2/13 in 3 overs prior to the penultimate over. Both Bipul and Warner hammered him and scored 19 runs of the 19th over.

With 5 to get off the last over, Warner hit a boundary on the very first ball and then hit the winning runs to lead his team to the finals. Pretty much the story of the season, isn’t it? Warner’s unbeaten 93 off 58 balls with 11 fours and 3 sixes saw SRH win by 3 wickets. Bipul Sharma played the perfect role of the supporter and hit 27 off just 11 balls with 3 sixes.

Brief Scores:

Gujarat Lions: 162/7 in 20 overs (Finch 50, Cutting 2/20)

Sunrisers Hyderabad: 163/6 in 19.2 overs (Warner 93*, Kaushik 2/22)

Man of the match: David Warner