Mumbai, May 6 (IANS): David Warner and Sunrisers Hyderabad had parted ways following IPL 2021, ending an eight-year association on a very acrimonious note.
The Australian Opener, who was appointed SRH captain in 2015, had led Sunrisers to the IPL title in the 2016 season and is the leading scorer for the franchise.
But Warner was dumped by Hyderabad as captain during IPL 2021 and even dropped for the last few matches, the player sitting in seclusion at the hotel and watching the action on television.
So, when the two met for the first time in IPL on Thursday when Warner's new team Delhi Capital faced Sunrisers Hyderabad at the Brabourne stadium, Warner showed them he is still a great batsman, giving a superb riposte to the SRH management for the way he was treated.
Warner played a sublime innings, scoring an unbeaten 92 off 58 deliveries, hitting 12 fours and three sixes as he anchored the Delhi Capitals innings. He played with controlled aggression, did not give any chances, maintained a good strike rate and found the gaps with the precision of a neurosurgeon.
From the start of his innings, he showed how determined he was to prove a point against Sunrisers. Warner raised 122 runs for the fourth wicket partnership with Rovman Powell, who blazed to 67 off 35 balls.
The 35-year-old from Paddington, Sydney, sacrificed a chance to score a hundred even as his partner Powell had offered to take a single and give him the strike in the final over.
"I asked DW (David Warner) if I should get a single to allow his 100 but he told me, 'that's not how the game is played', and told me to go big," Powell told the official broadcaster during the innings break.
With Warner watching from the other end, Powell hammered Umran Malik for three fours in a row and ended the innings with a big six as Delhi Capitals crossed the psychological 200-run mark.
Though he could not score his fifth century in IPL, David Warner on Thursday was satisfied. He had not been conquered by Sunrisers Hyderabad and he proved a point to the management that did not show faith in him when he was going through poor form.