IPL 2019: David Warner back in IPL with a thunderous knock, breaks several records

After being involved in the ball tampering controversy last year and not being able to participate in the IPL last season, David Warner seemed hungry for runs when he rejoined the Sunrisers Hyderabad in their campaign opener against the Kolkata Knight Riders at the Eden Gardens. The southpaw from Australia wanted to prove a point before the World Cup and looked desperate to make this IPL count.

In the first match for SRH this season, Warner played a superb inning and broke quite a few records in the process. However, that wasn’t enough on the day as KKR managed to win the game by 6 wickets, courtesy a blistering knock from Andre Russell after Nitish Rana’s solid half-century that ensured KKR chased the most number of runs needed to win in the last 3 overs in IPL history - 53 to be precise.

Most half-centuries in IPL

Playing for the Sunrisers Hyderabad, David Warner brought up his 37th IPL half-century. It took Warner only 31 balls to bring up his fifty. He got there with the help of 8 fours and a six. In terms of most number of fifties in the IPL, Warner tops the chart with 37 half-centuries now as he surpassed Gautam Gambhir's tally of 36.

Here are the top 5 players with the most number of half-centuries in IPL.

David Warner (37)

Gautam Gambhir (36)

Suresh Raina (35)

Virat Kohli (34)

Interestingly, David Warner also happens to be the only overseas batsman to feature on the list.

Most runs against KKR in IPL

In terms of most number of runs against the Kolkata Knight Riders, David Warner surpassed Rohit Sharma to get to the top of the list. After his knock against the KKR today, Warner has a total of 761 runs against them, while Rohit Sharma has a total of 757 runs.

Here are the top 5 batsmen with the most number of runs against KKR

David Warner (761 runs)

Rohit Sharma (757 runs)

Suresh Raina (746 runs)

Chris Gayle (615 runs)

Shikhar Dhawan (543 runs)

Notably, Rohit Sharma is the only right-hander in the list and loves to play at the Eden Gardens, the home ground of the KKR.

Record Top 10 batting scores for SRH

After an impressive performance in the practice game, Warner continued his good form in the match against KKR. Opening the batting with Jonny Bairstow, the duo put together a total of 118 runs for the first wicket and gave a good start to the team. However, Warner missed out on a well-deserved hundred and departed for a 53 ball 85 which included 9 fours and 3 sixes with a strike rate of above 160.

With his knock of 85, Warner now features in the Top 10 individual batting scores for an SRH batsman 7 times, a record in itself. The other batsmen are Shikhar Dhawan (92 vs Delhi, 2018); Kane Williamson (89 vs Delhi, 2017); and Aaron Finch (88* vs Delhi, 2014).