Boy, there have been some wonderful knocks in IPL 2016, haven't there. David Warner just added another one of those "phew, did we just see that" innings into the IPL 2016 list, scoring a brilliant, unbeaten 93 to power the Sunrisers Hyderabad past the Gujarat Lions and into the final of IPL 2016.
While all the talk has revolved around Virat Kohli, AB De Villiers and RCB, Warner showed he deserves to be in the conversation for the IPL 2016 MVP as well, by moving to second in the run-scorers list with his match-winning effort, scored under immense pressure and with little help, barring Bipul Sharma, from the other end.
"I just knew if I could try and hang in there, get some partnerships going, we were capable of chasing down that total. A lot of credit goes to Bipul, the way he did, hit those sixes, credit to him for coming in there and making those shots."
What shots they were too. With the match looking done as far as SRH were concerned and Warner seeing one batsman after the other throw his wicket away at the other end, Bipul soaked up all that pressure to launch three sixes in his innings of 27 (11b, 3x6) to help SRH get to the target of 163.
As good as Bipul's innings was, though, SRH would not have even got near the GL score, if not for Warner, who played an innings every bit as good as that of AB De Villiers, when the South African won RCB the match against GL in Qualifier 1 last Tuesday.
"It's a team game and for me it is about going out there and playing the way that I do and hoping to get a few good partnerships," Warner said at the presentation ceremony, trying to take the modest route. "Fortunate enough it was my turn tonight to get us through to the end. I am not going to take any credit for it, we got to come out and do our job as a team.
Next up for SRH is the final against RCB, high-flying, run-scoring, confident-sky-high(ing) RCB, and Warner knows his team will have to be at their absolute best if they are to take the IPL 2016 title away from the home team.
"We are going to come back strong from the last time we played there. Credit to them they have been playing fantastic," Warner added. "Virat Kohli, what a player, we have to try and get him out, and if he does not play well, they have AB De Villiers to come as well.
"We cannot think too much about that we just have to come and execute our plans."
