IPL 2019: David Warner Breaks Gautam Gambhir’s Record
Mar 24, 2019 at 6:21 PM
David Warner, on Sunday, made a stunning return to the Indian Premier League for Sunrisers Hyderabad. Warner had missed the last edition of the league in the wake of the ball-tampering scandal. Cricket Australia had imposed a one-year ban on him which will end on 29th of this month. The BCCI had then imposed its own sanctions and barred Warner along with Steve Smith from playing in the league last year.
Consequently, , Warner has not played international and first-class cricket for over a year. He has played in a handful of T20 league across globe and recently returned from an elbow injury. But all those setbacks made little difference as the Australian opener, who had guided Sunrisers to IPL title in 2016, hit the ground running in IPL.
He scored 85 off just 53 deliveries with the help of 9 fours and three sixes against Kolkata Knight Riders. Opening the innings alongside IPL debutant Jonny Bairstow, Warner looked in his elements right from the time Knight Riders skipper asked the visitors to bat first. He added 118 runs with Bairstow in just 65 deliveries to lay the foundation for a big total. He then added 26 runs with Vijay Shankar before missing a well-deserved century by just 15 runs. Warner’s knock helped his side post a big total of 181.
The half-century, nonetheless, helped Warner add yet another feather to his cap. He now has 37 fifties in the IPL which is the most by a player in this league. warner surpassed Gautam Gambhir to achieve this record.
Before the start of this season, Warner and Gambhir jointly held the record with 36 fifties. Gambhir, who led Kolkata Knight Riders to two IPL titles, retired from all forms of the game last year.
Warner, meanwhile, also become the first overseas player to score 700 runs against the Knight Riders in IPL.
Here is a list showing the players with most fifties in the Indian Premier League:
Player | Fifties |
David Warner | 37 |
Gautam Gambhir | 36 |
Suresh Raina | 35 |
Virat Kohli | 34 |
Rohit Sharma | 34 |
Shikhar Dhawan | 32 |
AB de Villiers | 38 |
Ajinkya Rahane | 36 |
Chris Gayle | 24 |
Robin Uthappa | 23 |