David Warner hit 69 off just 37 balls against RR
Sanju Samson smashed the maiden century of IPL 2019 but it was not enough as Sunrisers Hyderabad beat Rajasthan Royals by 5 wickets in Hyderabad on Friday.
Riding on Samson's brilliant 102 not out off 55 balls, RR posted 198/2 from their 20 overs and it looked more or less certain that Rajasthan will take the game at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium but David Warner had other plans.
Unlike Samson, whose innings was all about timing and class, Warner smashed his way to a 37-ball 69, hitting nine fours and two sixes and gave SRH the perfect start in their chase of 199.
Warner with little help from Jonny Bairstow completely dominated the Royals bowlers and together they put on 110 from just 9.4 overs before the southpaw fell. But, the damage was done and the middle-order took off from where the Australian left and finished the game with six balls to spare.
And at the end of the match, a wowed Samson heaped praise on the former SRH captain.
"You destroyed my day. My 100 was not enough because of the way you batted. The way you started the innings we lost the game in the powerplay. We needed some 250 on the board with someone like you in the opposition. It was special," Samson told Warner after the game.
Chasing a 200 odd score is not easy and Samson wanted to know how Warner approaches such situations, to which Warner said: "As a batsman you try and identify if the ball is going to swing or not first. As a batsman if you get one to start it's good. A couple of dots can change the momentum.
"Start as well as you can in the first six overs, was what we thought. Chasing big totals, it can go both ways. We got a good start and kept our adrenaline going. When the adrenaline is going you're in the mood."
Warner and Samson both played top knocks on Friday and thanks to them, they are now on top of the run-getters list in IPL 2019. Warner now has the 'Orange Cap' and has scored 154 runs from two matches while Samson has scored 132 from equal number of games.
