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A David Warner-inspired Sunrisers Hyderabad moved into Indian Premier League play-off positions as they beat Royal Challengers Bangalore at home yesterday.
Warner was the leading man with a 50-ball 92 and a 124-run partnership with Kane Williamson, making his debut, was instrumental in the 15-run win.
Bangalore, a side also known to be top-heavy for their batting like Hyderabad, were struggling once Lokesh Rahul (51) and AB de Villiers (47) were dismissed at crucial junctures in their chase of 195.
Warner later told StarSports he was "over the moon with the win", adding: "You never know what a good total is when you are playing a star-studded line-up like the RCB."
Virat Kohli (14), who missed out with the bat, conceded they “weren’t good enough on the night. It is not the batting. It is the bowling we need to get better at”.
Also
• Delhi Daredevils continued to show they are a multidimensional team with the fielding, bowlers and middle-order all combining in their victory over the Kolkata Knight Riders.
The 27-run win was Delhi’s fourth of the season and sent Kolkata down to third spot in the table, behind their opponents.
Delhi recovered from a poor start to post 186 for eight. Kolkata lost wickets at regular intervals and folded for 159 in 18.3 overs despite opener Robin Uthappa’s 72.
Delhi were 32 for three before a 106-run fourth-wicket partnership between Karun Nair (68) and Sam Billings (54) put them in a strong position.
Delhi captain Zaheer Khan led the way with the ball with three wickets, while all-rounder Carlos Brathwaite (3-47) chipped in with the ball as well as a cameo of 34 with the bat.
Zaheer said: “The good start [from top order] will come at some stage. There are some concerns but not really worried about it.”
His counterpart Gautam Gambhir though they conceded 15-20 extra runs too many. “We haven’t played smart cricket in the last two games,” he said.
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