David Warner enters elite Twenty20 club, reaches 7000 runs

David Warner became the fourth batsman in Twenty20s to cross 7000 runs as he blasted his 33rd fifty to help Sunrisers Hyderabad to a thumping victory over Gujarat Lions in the 2017 Indian Premier League

David Warner roared back to form with a magnificent 33rd fifty in the Indian Premier League as Sunrisers Hyderabad registered their second consecutive victory in the 2017 edition with a nine-wicket win over Gujarat Lions at the Rajiv Gandhi International stadium in Uppal on Sunday. (SRH vs GL Highlights)

David Warner slammed an unbeaten 76 off 52 balls and became the fourth batsman to go past 7000 runs in Twenty20s as Sunrisers Hyderabad defeated Gujarat Lions in the 2017 Indian Premier League.(BCCI)

Warner, who had struggled for form in the four-Test series against India, was at his aggressive best as he slammed an unbeaten 76 off just 45 balls to help the defending IPL champions chase down Gujarat Lions’ modest 135/7. Earlier, Suresh Raina’s team were undone by some wonderful bowling from 18-year-old Afghanistan legspinner Rashid Khan as he finished with figures of 4-0-19-3. (SRH vs GL scorecard)

Along the way, Warner joined an elite list of players as he became just the fourth batsman in Twenty20 history to go past 7000 runs in this format. Warner joined the likes of West Indies’ Chris Gayle, New Zealand’s Brendon McCullum and Australia’s Brad Hodge to have gone past this landmark. Gayle, on the other hand, is eyeing a milestone as he aims to become the first player to score 10,000 runs. (Full coverage IPL 2017)

The Australian left-hander has an average of over 35 and a strike-rate of close to 145 in this format, with 54 fifties and five centuries. In the IPL, he has the second-most number of runs in the tournament behind Gayle. He has two centuries, one while playing for Delhi Daredevils and one for Sunrisers Hyderabad. In the 2016 edition, he was the second-highest run-getter with 848 runs as he led SRH to their maiden IPL title.

His highest Twenty20 score is 135*, which was achieved in the Champions League Twenty20 clash for New South Wales against Chennai Super Kings in October 2011.