South Wales Blues batsman David Warner and Steven Smith in action against Chennai Super Kings during the Champions League at M.A Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.
Warner took NSW Blues to 201 in 20 overs. CSK began well but soon lost track, ending up 46 runs short. The win took NSW to the top of the pool and into the semifinals. The Mumbai Indians qualified as second best.
The slaughter began right at the start. Warner and Shane Watson raced to 50 in just the seventh over. If CSK thought they had stalled NSW the moment they snared Watson, they were wrong. Steven Smith walked in --- promoted to ensure there was no drop in momentum --- and joined the party.
Warner soon was switching stance as he'd done on two previous occasions and still managed to find the sweet spot. He punished Doug Bollinger, hitting the bowler for a straight six and followed it with a fierce pull that crossed the rope.
The batsman wasn't done with Bollinger yet who leaked 48 runs in three overs. Ashwin was the better of the lot despite being subjected to reverse hits. Shadab Jakati was pummelled and so was Dwayne Bravo who went for 24 runs in the 19th over.
It was Bravo's last over that made 200 a possibility. Moises Henriques yanked one over long off. A single gave Warner the strike. He stayed back to hit a six over long off, stepped out to hit the ball in the same region, and if that wasn't enough humiliation for Bravo, he played the reverse hit to a length ball, sending it straight to the boundary.