The senior Australia cricketer – who opened the innings for Delhi Capitals – played a slow knock of 51 off 47 balls against Mumbai at Arun Jaitely Stadium in New Delhi.
The left-handed batter walked into the middle to open innings for the hosts and was dismissed in the 19th over but the southpaw could never break the shackles to add runs at a brisk pace for his team.
Warner – who was invited to bat first by opposition captain Rohit Sharma – opened batting alongside Prithvi Shaw. He started confidently by hitting a couple of cracking shots inside the powerplay but once Shaw was dismissed in the fourth over of the match runs also dried up from Warner’s bat.
The Aussie laboured to his third fifty of the season in four innings and 58th overall of his IPL career never looked in his elements. He lost partners at the other end as Delhi Capitals witnessed a mini top-order collapse but things were looking to change when he was joined by his deputy Axar Patel.
Patel – who stepped into the middle at number six – went all guns blazing with the bat and smashed a quickfire half-century off 22 balls. The left-handed batter – who is in a form of his life – did nothing wrong and helped his team post a decent total.
While Patel was dealing with sixes and boundaries, Warner kept struggling on the other end. He was eventually dismissed for 51 off 47 balls, at a strike rate of 108.51 and left his team in the lurch. DC found themselves at least 15-20 runs short due to the batting collapse in the 19th over.
Irfan Pathan Questions David Warner’s Intent
Reacting to Warner’s knock, Irfan Pathan tweeted, “How come no one pointing out a strike rate of David Warner?? He is been playing with a low strike for quite some time now.”
Meanwhile, former India cricketer Harbhajan Singh – Irfan’s former India teammate and fellow commentator – also criticised Warner’s batting against Mumbai.
After Warner’s departure, Harbhajan said, “He was never looking in the zone. He struggled with the bat and there wasn’t the intent to go ballistic from a batter of Warner’s calibre. It was surprising and Delhi might pay the price for his slow batting performance.”
David Warner’s Ranking In IPL 2023 In Terms Of Strike Rate
Warner – who is known for his explosive batting performances – has looked like a mere shadow of himself in the ongoing IPL season because his strike rate has been below-par.
The southpaw – who has a career IPL strike rate of 139.61 in 166 matches – has scored runs at a dismal strike rate of 114.84 in the ongoing season. In four games in IPL 2023, Warner has scored 202 runs and averaged 52.25, which is 13th on the list.
But the legendary Australia batter currently sits at 70th position in the IPL 2023 with his poor strike rate of 114.84. Adil Rashid and Umesh Yadav have better strike rates than Warner in the ongoing season.
