Brilliant Warner stars en route to final

A power-packed batting performance from David Warner put New South Wales into the Champions League final and ensured a hat-trick of Twenty20 victories over old rivals Victoria.

All the talk in the build-up was how difficult the Feroz Shah Kotla pitch would be for Twenty20 hitting, but Warner didn't grind out runs. His Australia call-up and a fat IPL contract are a result of his ferocious strikes, something he showed again in front of a disappointingly thin crowd in Delhi.

The stand-out feature of his innings was the penchant for hitting straight on a pitch with low bounce. Both his sixes were clean hits over long-off and he started the onslaught with a searing flat-batted swipe past the bowler Shane Harwood.

That hit began a prosperous period for NSW: in all but one over till the start of the 12th, Victoria leaked nine runs or more. Warner was in sublime touch, bludgeoning 25 runs off the ten deliveries he faced from Siddle. He rounded off the Powerplay with a powerful lofted straight drive over Siddle's head and launching him to the extra-cover boundary to take NSW to 56.

Warner was finally run out attempting a suicidal run after Phillip Hughes pushed the ball to point. Warner fell two short of a well-deserved half-century, but a bigger prize was awaiting.