Brilliant Warner denies Lions a final berth

Cricket365
May 31, 2016

The Sunrisers Hyderabad pulled off a sensational chase against the Gujarat Lions in the IPL Eliminator on Friday, with David Warner's innings the key after they were behind the chase for most of the match but won by four wickets.

A 19th over that saw 19 runs scored off the bowling of Dwayne Bravo was the vital moment for the Sunrisers, who will join the Royal Challenegers Bangalore in the final on Sunday, and denied the Lions a final appearance in their maiden season.

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The Lions batted first and recorded 162 for seven, with Aaron Finch coming in at five to score 50. But he had very little solid support, with Brendon McCullum's 32 the only other significant score.

But Hyderabad seemed to make a meal of the chase from the start, losing regular wickets and leaving it all for Warner to do. He recorded 93 not out off 58 balls, but no-one else in the top six managed a score higher than 11.

It was Bipul Sharma who proved to be the unsung hero in the end, as he made 27 not out off 11 balls and hit three sixes, thus taking some of the pressure off Warner.

But the final two overs still saw the Sunrisers needing 24 runs, and the pressure was on the Australian. He kept calm though, and hit 13 runs off the first five balls of the 19th. Bipul smashed a six of the last ball of the over, so they needed only five runs off the 20th.

It was a gutting defeat for the Lions, who did so well in their first season, while the Sunrisers will thank their skipper for his consistent efforts over the past six weeks, as he once again rescued them from the jaws of defeat.

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