It has taken him a long time: known for smoking the bowlers to all parts of the ground, and with great consistency in the IPL, David Warner has taken 7 games to his first six in the IPL 2023.
It arrived very late – that DC lost 5 of their 6 matches and are staring at an early elimination from the playoff race – but it came. And it came at a special venue: Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad, against his former franchise Sunrisers Hyderabad.
David Warner played 246 balls in IPL 2023 before hitting his first six
The left-hander showed some great daring to take down his negative matchup – that of off-spinner Washington Sundar. It was floated full ball from Sundar that was right in the slot, in Warner’s arc. The southpaw bent down and slog-swept it way beyond the deep mid-wicket fielder, and deep into the stands of the dancing SRH and DC supporters.
Watch: David Warner’s first six of IPL 2023:
David Warner's first six of #IPL2023 and it's at Uppal vs #SRH – it just had to be, didn't it? 😶#SRHvDC #TATAIPL #IPLonJioCinema | @davidwarner31 pic.twitter.com/66og1k7umD
— JioCinema (@JioCinema) April 24, 2023
Also, Warner created a rather unwanted record: 290 runs by Warner is the most by a player before hitting a six in an IPL season.
He didn’t have a great homecoming with the bat as he managed just 21 runs off 20 balls. After having another slow start, he’d hit two fours and a six, but got out to Sundar, who picked three wickets in one over to rattle Delhi Capitals.
There was a huge cheer from the Hyderabad crowd when DC’s Skipper won the toss.
When asked about this raucous reception, the left-hander said: “My mindset is to thank the crowd, they’ve been a great support. For me, it’s about entertaining them. Absolutely love this venue, I owe it to the fans. Sarfaraz Khan comes in and Ripal Patel is in. I owe it to the curator, you have to start well.”
The roar for Hyderabad's very own David Warner on winning the toss. pic.twitter.com/2OB4zEBt6w
— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) April 24, 2023
SRH have fumbled their way to 58/4 in 7.4 overs, at the time of writing.
Teams:
SRH (Playing XI): Abhishek Sharma, Harry Brook, Aiden Markram(c), Mayank Agarwal, Heinrich Klaasen(w), Marco Jansen, Washington Sundar, Mayank Markande, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, T Natarajan, Umran Malik
DC (Playing XI): David Warner(c), Philip Salt(w), Mitchell Marsh, Manish Pandey, Sarfaraz Khan, Axar Patel, Aman Hakim Khan, Ripal Patel, Anrich Nortje, Kuldeep Yadav, Ishant Sharma
