David Warner resolutely powered his way to an unbeaten 93 as the Sunrisers beat the Gujarat Lions by four wickets in Delhi to qualify for Sunday’s final in Bengaluru.
Warner stabilised his side in their chase of the 163-run target after fellow opener Shikhar Dhawan (0), Moises Henriques (11) and (8) lost their wickets cheaply to leave the Sunrisers on 61-3 after 8.2 overs.
They now meet Royal Challengers Bangalore, who beat the Lions to secure their place in the final.
Warner kept chipping away at the total as the wickets tumbled around him. Deepak Hooda (4), Ben Cutting (8), and Nama Ojha (10) also departed the crease without troubling the scorers too much; stumbling to 117-6 after 15.5 overs.
Warner then found a solid partner in Bipul Sharma as the pair smashed 46 runs from the last four overs to win with four balls to spare. Warner’s 93 came from 58 balls, with 11 fours and three sixes, while Sharma smashed 27 from 11 balls with three sixes.
Earlier, the Lions lost two early wickets, but Brendon McCullum and Dinesh Karthik combined for a 44-run third-wicket partnership. Karthik was run out by Trent Boult in the ninth over after scoring 26 from 19 balls (4×4, 1×6).
McCullum was next to make his way back to the dugout in the 12th over, caught at deep cover by Bhuvneshawar Kumar off Bipul Sharma. Australia’s Aaron Finch then fired 50 runs from 32 balls, with seven fours and two sixes, before dragging one on to his stumps off Ben Cutting in the 18th over with the score on 134-6.
Dwayne Bravo hit a quick-fire 20 from 10 balls with four fours to help the Gujarat Lions to a decent 162, but it wasn’t enough.
Photo: BCCI
