David Warner dethroned T20 legend Chris Gayle from the top of most fifties list in the format by a batter with an unbeaten 92-run knock against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH). Playing against his former franchise where he was sacked as captain midway through Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021, Warner got to his 89th half-century surpassing Gayle’s tally in the shortest format of the game.
Now, Gayle is followed by Virat Kohli (77), Aaron Finch (70) and Rohit Sharma (69) in the top five of the most fifties list.
Warner missed his fifth Indian Premier League (IPL) century by eight runs as Rovman Powell took the strike in the last over bowled by Umran Malik where 19 runs were scored. The Australian opener scored 92 runs from 58 deliveries including 12 fours and three sixes.
54 out of Warner’s 89 half-centuries have come in his IPL career. He is also leading the list of most fifties by a batter in IPL. The 35-year-old is the highest run-scorer for Australia in the format, slightly ahead of his T20I captain Finch, who is currently playing for Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR).
Warner’s 92-run knock helped DC post a challenging total of 207/3 at Brabourne Stadium. The Rishabh Pant-led side won the game by a comfortable margin of 21 runs.
“It's a really nice wicket, I've had some success here. I knew if I played my strokes, it was going to come off. Challenging here in Mumbai with the humidity and I was cooked there towards the back end, I am getting older. Having Rovman at the other end was amazing. I was glad he was at the other end. I didn't need extra motivation (playing against SRH), we've seen what's happened before in the past, it was good to get the win on the board,” Warner told the broadcasters after winning the ‘Player of the Match’ award.
“I thought he (Bhuvi) was going to bowl a yorker, it was wider. As I tried to turn, I actually saw Jos play one recently, so I practised that in the nets. I bat right-handed in the nets against the spinners sometimes. You got to try these shots. I premeditated to try and reverse it, but when it was bowled there, I just tried to back-cut it and it came off,” he explained the switch hit shot against Bhuvneshwar Kumar.
