David Warner played a blinder to take the Sunrisers Hyderabad to an impressive win over the Chennai Super Kings in their IPL 2014 match in Ranchi.
Warner's stunning 90 helped SRH chase down 186 easily enough as CSK suffered their third straight defeat.
The win keeps the Sunrisers in the hunt for the playoffs, with former skipper Shikhar Dhawan also playing a good hand, an unbeaten half-century, to take his side home.
"The last two games we have been up to the challenge," SRH skipper Darren Sammy said. "All we can do is control what we can and we have done that well.
"It was a good thing we bowled first, the pitch didn't change, and credit to Warner and Dhawan who went after the bowling."
Sammy admitted SRH could have perhaps pushed Warner up the order a little earlier after seeing the manner in which the left-hander has taken on the bowlers in the last couple of matches.
"After a few games you tend to look at what you have done and we thought Warner batting at the top of the order now was better, and I hope it is not a little too late."
Aussie tyro Warner was happy to have contributed handsomely to the crucial victory.
"The most important thing is we won," the Man of the Match said. "Credit to Shikhar also to bounce back, he didn't have any momentum in the beginning, so it is good to see him back in form."
Warner did pretty well batting at No.3 or No.4 for the Sunrisers early in the tournament, but the left-hander has been a class apart since moving back to the opening slot in the last two matches.
"I love batting the top of the order, I was asked to bat in the middle and I thoroughly enjoyed that," he added. "The management asked me to bat back at the top and I love this position."
For CSK, though, there is plenty to figure out after losing their third straight game, with KKR now level on points with the Chennai franchise in the battle for the top two spot.
"The run of defeats is something we have to address," CSK skipper MS Dhoni, who hit a nice unbeaten half-century, said. "We have lost the last two matches easily, which is worrying."
