DC skipper David Warner goes past 600 fours in IPL

 Australia and Delhi Capitals (DC) opener David Warner completed 600 fours in the Indian Premier League (IPL).

He accomplished this milestone during DC's Indian Premier League (IPL) match against Mumbai Indians (MI) at the home arena of Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi on Tuesday.

In the match, Warner scored 51 in 47 balls. His knock consisted of six fours. This took Warner's four-tally in IPL to 604.

The highest number of fours in IPL history belong to the current Punjab Kings skipper Shikhar Dhawan, who has hit a total of 728 fours in 209 matches. Warner is in the second position when it comes to hitting fours in IPL. Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) Virat Kohli has hit 591 fours, which places him on number three.

At number four and number five are Mumbai Indians (MI) skipper Rohit Sharma (528 fours) and Chennai Super Kings (CSK) legend Suresh Raina (506 fours).

Following this loss, DC is at the bottom of the points table, having lost all four games. On the other hand, MI has climbed to the seventh spot on the points table, with one win and two losses in three matches. They have a total of two points.

Coming to the match, after being put to bat first by MI, DC was bundled out for 172 in 19.4 overs.

Skipper Warner (51 off 47 balls with six fours) and Axar Patel (54 off 25 balls with four boundaries and five sixes) were the top performers for DC with the bat as the rest of the line-up struggled to provide support to these two batters. Manish Pandey scored 26 in 18 balls with five fours forming a 43-run stand for the second wicket with Warner, while Axar formed a 67-run stand for the sixth wicket with Warner. Both of these stands were extremely crucial for DC.

Piyush Chawla was the pick of the bowlers for MI, taking 3/22 in his four overs. Jason Behrendorff also took 3/23 in his three overs. Riley Meredith, who was playing his first game of IPL 2023, took 2/34 in 3.4 overs. Hritik Shokeen also got a wicket.

In the chase of 173, skipper Rohit Sharma and Ishan Kishan gave an explosive start to the five-time champions. The duo stitched a stand of 71 runs in just 45 balls before Kishan departed for 31 off 26 balls with six fours. Tilak Verma continued to impress this season, forming a 68-run stand for the second wicket with Rohit before he was dismissed for 41 off 29 balls, with one four and four sixes. Suryakumar Yadav's lean patch continued as he registered his fourth golden duck in the last seven innings in competitive cricket.

Before falling to Mustafizur Rahman, Rohit scored his first IPL half-century in 24 innings, the longest gap for an opener in IPL. He made 65 off 45 balls with six fours and four sixes.

The duo of Tim David (13*) and Cameron Green (17*) won the match for MI in a last-ball thriller, with the former surviving a run-out attempt while his side needed two runs in the final ball, completing the second run and winning the game for his side.

Mukesh Kumar was the pick of the bowlers for DC, taking 2/30 in two overs. Mustafizur took 1/38 in four overs.

Skipper Rohit was declared 'Player of the Match' for his half-century.

Brief score: Delhi Capitals 172 (Axar Patel 54, David Warner 51; Jason Behrendorff 3-23) vs Mumbai Indians 173/4 (Rohit Sharma 65, Tilak Varma 41; Mukesh Kumar 2-30). (ANI)