David Warner's possible return to the playing XI was the cynosure of Sunrisers Hyderabad's (SRH) UAE-leg opener against Delhi Capitals at the Dubai International Stadium on Wednesday. But the celebration was cut short by a fiery delivery from pacer Anrich Nortje as the veteran Aussie batter departed for a duck.
Following a poor run of form as a batsman and with SRH dropping to the bottom of the table, Warner was removed from captaincy and dropped from the playing XI in May. With Jonny Bairstow opting out of the second leg of the tournament, Warner was included in the playing XI for the match against Delhi. But a 147 clicks delivery, only the third in the innings, from Nortje, rising from the short-of-length spot saw the early end of Warner. The ball took the leading edge and ballooned towards the fielder at cover point.
This was Warner's eighth career duck in IPL and first since 2016.
With the dismissal, Warner's horror run in IPL 2021 continued. In seven matches so far, Warner has managed to score only 193 runs in 178 balls at 27.6 with two half-centuries. His strike rate of 108.4 is the worst for Warner in any of his 12 IPL seasons.
Earlier in the evening, Sunrisers captain Kane Williamson won the toss and opted to bat against Delhi.
SRH stand bottom of the points table with just one win in seven matches.
