Bhuvneshwar Kumar takes 4-29 as David Warner’s Sunrisers Hyderabad easily chase down Gujarat Lions in IPL

The Gujarat Lions were brought crashing back down to earth as David Warner and Shikhar Dhawan combined to deliver Sunrisers Hyderabad the most one-sided victory so far in the Indian Premier League this season.

Sunrisers Hyderabad captain David Warner plays a shot. Noah Seelam / AFP
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Gujarat Lions 135/8 (20/20 ov)

Sunrisers Hyderabad 137/0 (14.5/20 ov)

Sunrisers Hyderabad won by 10 wickets (with 31 balls remaining)

The Gujarat Lions were brought crashing back down to earth as David Warner and Shikhar Dhawan combined to deliver Sunrisers Hyderabad the most one-sided victory so far in the Indian Premier League this season.

Warner struck an unbeaten 74 off 48 balls alongside his opening partner Dhawan, who finished 53 not out, to hand Hyderabad a 10-wicket victory in less than 15 overs at Rajkot.

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As has been the overriding theme of this year’s tournament, it was the chasing team who emerged victorious, but it had not been done in such style so far until Thursday night.

Earlier, Suresh Raina gave Gujarat some hope with a confident knock of 75 off 51 balls.

However, none of his teammates could form a lasting partnership, with Aaron Finch, so impressive so far in the tournament, out for a duck. Brendon McCullum was second-top scorer with 18.

It was Bhuvneshwar Kumar who did most of the damage with the ball, accounting for Finch, Raina, Akshdeep Nath and Dale Steyn. Bhuvneshwar also took two catches in the field as Gujarat were 135 for eight from their 20 overs.

Then came the turn of Warner and Dhawan, and there would be no cheap wickets this time around as the pair shared 14 boundaries between them – but not one six – as they eased to victory.

Man-of-the-match Bhuvneshwar said getting Finch out “was a big boost”.

“He was the one who scored runs for them, won all three matches for them. I wanted to get him early on.

“They are heavily dependent on their top three. If we could get them out, the team wouldn’t score too many.

“We were under pressure, but its good to be under pressure, it brings out the best in us.”

“I have to give credit to the bowlers,” Warner said.

“It gave us a great opportunity to play the way we want to play with the bowlers restricting the opposition.

“I’m proud of the way the bowlers are bowling and if we keep chasing totals like this, we’ll go a long way in the tournament”

Losing captain Raina said: “We didn’t score enough. The Sunrisers bowlers started really well. We lost too many wickets in the middle, I thought 160 would have been good.”

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