Sunrisers heed Warner's war cry

David Warner's 57 off 27 today was his quickest half-century in the IPL. Yet, the more telling impact he had in orchestrating Sunrisers Hyderabad's victory over Royal Challengers Bangalore was as captain. It was only his fifth match in charge of a team, more so a team whose resources are alien to the ones he's used to in the Australian one-day side. Tasked with a medley of 120-kph seamers and Trent Boult to ensure one of the most explosive batting line-ups was limited to a total Sunrisers' own of much lesser wattage could run down, he trusted his T20 instincts. Often, it seemed like he asked himself the kind of balls he would hate to face and the kind of field he would hate to be up against and just went forward.

The gamble
Giving Ashish Reddy the ball in the 16th over looked like a fool's gambit. A medium-pacer who has bowled 767 deliveries in T20 cricket to trundle in to AB de Villiers and Darren Sammy at the death. Deep end, check. Deep end populated by two ravenous sharks, double check.

The expected results came to pass - de Villiers stole a couple of twos, so eager was he to retain strike, and swept the third ball beyond the fine-leg boundary. Ten runs found with minimal risk and three balls still left. Warner didn't mind. All through the day, he has had a plan, and he has been faithful to it. His bowlers responded with panache.

Reddy pulled his length back and got de Villiers away from the strike. Last ball of the over. Big, powerful Sammy on strike. Reddy ambled in again, nailed the yorker and trumped Sammy. Cue the aeroplane celebration, which seemed fitting considering the manner of the wicket, and then that old yell of "Come on!" from Warner. Those two words had rankled the Indian team in Australia, but Sunrisers Hyderabad were only too eager to rally around the war cry from their captain.

The big gun gunned down
Warner experimented with his dibbly-dobbly seamers for one reason - to have a Trent Boult-sized ace up his sleeve when de Villiers decided to unleash.

Sean Abbott had helped himself to 13 runs off Praveen Kumar in the 18th over and even ensured that de Villiers would be on strike for the next. Boult's first ball was a tad too full and was express delivered to the boundary. It was a rare moment when a batsman beat Warner's field - long-on and deep midwicket dove one after the other but the shot bisected them.

Warner held his men in check - long-on, deep midwicket, deep square leg - to protect the bowler from slogs and the failsafe - deep point. Boult bowled to the failsafe by shortening his length a touch and pushing the ball wider. De Villiers swung for the fences and skewed the ball to Shikhar Dhawan running in from the off-side boundary.

The fishing trip
Virat Kohli had been vibrant in the Powerplay, but with the field spread and without the comfort of his pal Chris Gayle at the other end, his innings began to fade so much that one young fan cried out, "Kohli, you're boring me."

He was soon bowled for 41 off 37 while trying to manufacture a boundary. Reward for tight, disciplined bowling from another trundler, if perhaps a more household one, in Ravi Bopara.

Mandeep Singh strode into the M Chinnaswamy stadium, which was far more interested in the man who greeted him - de Villiers. At 93 for 3 in the 12th over, Royal Challengers needed one end secure so that de Villiers could mimic a revolving door at the other and swat balls to the leg-side boundary.

Warner understood that perfectly. In fact, it is easy to imagine him giving the same advice to his new partner if he were batting in that situation. So having read the play, he kept only one man inside the circle on the leg side and Bopara acquiesced with a legcutter.

Mandeep's closed face came down on the ball. It came down too early. The ball looped towards short cover. Warner was the man. He darted to his right. It was still too far from his reach. Time to dive. Then his right hand shot out. The Bangalore crowd held their breath and craned their necks. Warner greeted them, ball in hand and broad smile intact.

The quick finish
The front-line batsmen were undone by sticking to a simple game plan. So why change against the tail?

Bhuvneshwar Kumar had indulged in a slower ball to Varun Aaron and was smoked over long-off. Warner abandoned his post at extra cover to have a short chat with his bowler, and then occupied long-off just in case there was another biff. The best fielder posted down the ground meant one thing, but Aaron did not see it coming. A perfect yorker. The stumps in disarray again. Straightforward.

Harshal Patel copped the other length lower-order batsmen despise. The leg-side boundary was well manned, but mid-off was asked to come up and third man was sent back to control the outside edge. Captaincy 101. Boult banged one into the middle of the pitch. Bowling to tailenders 101. It was too quick for Harshal, whose pull came off the splice and was held at midwicket.

Muting the crowds
"Nope. Maybe on the field a little bit." That was Warner's reply when asked if marriage and fatherhood would affect his batting style at the start of the IPL. Today, he offered 57 hard-hit additions and no one dared argue. Not even the normally robust Chinnaswamy crowd. The DJ's attempts to wake those famous "R-C-B, R-C-B, R-C-B" chants were almost ignored. The people were pouting, like children after their favourite cartoon was cancelled.

Warner banished the first ball of the chase - a full toss - to the cover boundary, pummeled two fours and a six in the second over and walloped Aaron, the fastest bowler of the match, for a hat-trick of boundaries. Sunrisers' required rate was only 8.35, he was going at a strike-rate over 200. He had not just bested Royal Challengers, he had found the mute button to one of the most unfailingly raucous crowds in India.