Hyderabad: David Warner blasted his way to an unbeaten 54-ball 109 as he steered Delhi Daredevils to a crushing nine-wicket win over laggards Deccan Chargers in a one-sided Indian Premier League match here on Thursday.
Playing only in his second match this season, Warner smashed 10 fours and seven sixes in his explosive knock to help Delhi chase down a stiff target of 188 with 20 balls to spare at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium at Uppal here.
The Australian dynamo shared a massive 189-run partnership for the unbroken second wicket with Naman Ojha (64 not out) as the duo sent the Deccan bowlers on a leatherhunt.
Ojha turned out to be the ideal ally for Warner as he rotated the strike with his partner initially by scoring in singles before hitting some lusty blows later in his 46-ball knock, which was studded with two fours and five sixes.
With the win , Delhi once again jumped to the top of the table and are virtually assured of a play-off berth with 18 points from 12 matches. Warner was on song from the beginning and he was the one who took on the bowlers initially.
He hit TP Sudhindra for a four and a six in the fourth over and followed that up with two sixes and as many fours off Ashish Reddy in the sixth to take Delhi to 64 for one at the end of first powerplay. He completed his sixth IPL half century with a single to the off side off Manpreet Gony.
The run riot continued with Ojha joining in with two consecutive sixes off Shikhar Dhawan. Delhi were well-placed at the halfway stage at 112 for one, with the asking rate below eight an over.
There was no stopping the Warner-Ojha duo as they rained in fours and sixes and by the 14th over, the asking rate was down to below six an over.
Warner brought up his century in style — his second in the IPL — by lifting Ankit Sharma for a six off the 52nd ball he faced.
Delhi though did not have a good start as their skipper Virender Sehwag was out for just four in the second ball of the innings of the bowling of Shikhar Dhawan. (PTI)
