David Warner kicked off Delhi Capitals’ Indian Premier League campaign, setting the stage for an impressive victory over defending champions Chennai Super Kings with a quickfire 50 in Visakhapatnam.
It took a world-class catch to dismiss the 37-year-old starter, but he had already set the tone for the Capitals after a pair of losses.
With Prithvi Shaw (43 off 27), Warner had made 93 for 10 runs for the first wicket. Rishabh Pant (51 off 32) built on that as the Capitals made it 5-191, with Mitch Marsh contributing 18 off 12.
Warner smashed three sixes and five fours in her brilliant 52 off 35 balls, before Matheesha Pathirana undid it with a stunning one-handed catch at short fine leg as she looked to direct another boundary off Mustafizur Rahman.
The innings was Warner’s 66th half-century in the IPL, seven ahead of second-best Virat Kohli.
Marsh also started with fierce intentions but was felled by a magnificent yorker from Pathirana. The quick also dismissed Pant and Tristan Stubbs for a duck in the second ball, to stop Delhi’s batting.
However, Khaleel Ahmed dismissed both of Chennai’s openers early on and although MS Dhoni delighted his many fans in the crowd with an unbeaten 16-ball, 37-run cameo, the Super Kings never looked like winning.
They finally closed with a record of 6-171, losing by 20 runs, their first loss of the season.
Earlier, Pat Cummins-led Sunrisers Hyderabad team was defeated by Gujarat Titans in Ahmedabad.
The visitors made 8-162 with no batsman reaching 30. Travis Head, opening the batting in the same arena where his magnificent 137 led Australia to victory over India in the 50-over World Cup final in November , it didn’t go so well.
He was second out with 19 off 14 balls and, despite a late rout from Abdul Samad (29 off 14), the Sunrisers appeared to be falling short of full par.
That’s how it turned out as the Titans cruised to victory by seven wickets with five balls to spare. David Miller, despite an apparent injury, scored 44 off 27 balls and finished with six.
Cummins (1-28) held off until the 11th, at which point the Titans were 2-78. He dismissed Sai Sudharsan (45 off 36) in his third over, but by then the Titans were 2-138 and cruising.
“It was a good game but we were 10-15 behind,” said the Australian.
“They bowled well. Losing a couple of wickets meant we couldn’t get a batsman not hitting 50 or more. That was the difference. Today was about wanting to start bowling late depending on the conditions.”
AAP
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