Australian opener David Warner smashed a splendid 90 off 45 balls to help Sunrisers Hyderabad beat Chennai Super Kings by six wickets in Ranchi on Thursday in the Indian Premier League (IPL) Season 7 clash.
The Super Kings had posted a target of 186 runs for Hyderabad, but Warner and Shikhar Dhawan put on a 64 in the power play to help their side to a victory that has kept alive their slim hopes of making it to the play-offs.
Warner, who was awarded the man of the match, blasted 12 fours and three sixes to bring up the hundred for Hyderabad in 60 balls and got undone by debutant Australian cricketer John Hastings on a very ordinary delivery as he took played on when the ball kept low and took the bottom edge of his bat.
Following Warner's dismissal, Dhawan went on to an unbeaten 64, helped along by Naman Ojha's 19 to take the score to 168 when Ojha got out with 18 needed off 16 deliveries.
Although Aaron Finch scored seven runs following Ojha's dismissal and Darren Sammy got out for a duck, Hyderabad went on to win the match by six wickets.
Meanwhile, for the Super Kings, who have already qualified for the play-offs, skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni's 57 off 41 balls along with Mike Hussey 50 off 33 deliveries provided the momentum to the team's batting line up with a stand of 108 after Dwayne Smith had set the ball rolling with 47 off 28 balls.
Hyderabad currently stand on 12 points and still need to beat Kolkata Knight Riders to have a mathematical chance of taking the last play-off slot available, so long as the Rajasthan Royals and Mumbai Indians lose their final two games.