David Warner rose to the occasion once against when his side needed him the most in the on-going IPL 2020. The SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) hammered an unbeaten 85 off 58 deliveries to steer his side to the victory against defending champions Mumbai Indians (MI) on Tuesday at Sharjah.
The Hyderabad franchise raced to an emphatic 10-wicket victory without breaking a sweat and bagged playoffs spot by moving up third in the points table, shoving Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) out of the top-four in the process. Chasing a 150-run target against a tweaked Mumbai side, SRH's run-flow was bolstered by the Warner-Wriddhiman Saha show at the top.
The opening pair remained unbeaten to guide SRH to the victory with 17 deliveries to spare. Saha continued his rich vein of form by assisting Warner and scoring a 45-ball 58*. The duo never gave MI a chance to come back in the game as SRH comfortably secured two crucial points in a 'do-or-die' fixture.
Meanwhile, Warner crossed the 500-run mark to climb up to second place in the Orange Cap race. The SRH skipper has so far scored 529 runs in the on-going tournament at an impressive average of 44.08.
The Australian opener also became the first player in the history of the IPL to hit 500+ runs in six straight seasons. Warner has achieved this feat by touching the 500-run mark in 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 and the on-going season. Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) skipper Virat Kohli is second in the list, with five seasons where he has scored 500 or more runs. Shikhar Dhawan is third in the list by achieving this feat on four ocassions.
Talking about the Orange Cap list in the current season, Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) captain KL Rahul leads the list with 670 runs in 14 games. However, with KXIP missing the playoffs berth, Warner and Dhawan have a glaring opportunity to go past Rahul and bag the Orange Cap. While Warner has scored 529 runs this year, Dhawan has hit 525 including two consecutive centuries.
