Warner, Henriques steer Hyderabad past Gujarat

David Warner and Moises Henriques confidently steered the defending champions, Hyderabad, to their second straight victory in the Indian Twenty20 competition by beating Gujarat by nine wickets and 27 balls to spare at the Rajiv Gandhi Stadium in Hyderabad on Sunday.

Gujarat, pressed in to bat first by Warner, managed just 135 in their innings, with Dwayne Smith top-scoring with a 27-ball 35. Hyderabad required to find a steady start in their bid to consign Gujarat to their second-straight defeat in the season. Warner and Henriques came to the fore after Shikhar Dhawan was dismissed in the fourth over. Henriques made his intentions clear at the onset and dispatched the third delivery he faced for a boundary. Warner then smashed Tejas Baroka for two straight fours an over later.

The duo continued their attacking display throughout the 12.2 overs they batted together. They found the boundary on 16 occasions during their 108-run stand for the second wicket and scored briskly at 8.75 runs an over. Warner, in particular was unforgiving and scored with a strike-rate of 168.88. He struck six fours and four sixes in his unbeaten 45-ball 76. Henriques clubbed six fours in his unbeaten 39-ball 52.