David Warner roared back to form with a blistering 76 after rookie Afghan spinner Rashid Khan weaved a mesmerising spell as Sunrisers Hyderabad thrashed Gujarat Lions by nine wickets in the Indian Premier League match in Hyderabad, on Sunday.
It was Rashid's brilliant spell of three for 19 that helped Sunrisers restrict Lions to a paltry 135 for 7 in 20 overs before Warner blasted his way to an unbeaten 76 off 45 balls to finish off the match in 15.3 overs.
All-rounder Moises Henriques (52 not out) once again proved his worth with the willow as the duo added 108 runs for the unbeaten second wicket.
While this was Hyderabad's second win in as many matches, last year's top-four finisher Lions now have had two defeats in a row.
Sunrisers captain Warner, who had a poor Test series against India, bounced back in fine style in front of his home fans -- hitting six boundaries and four huge sixes.
The mayhem started in the third over when rival skipper Suresh Raina introduced himself into the attack. Warner lofted him straight into the sight screen and hit another one into the long-on region to break the shackles.
Leg-spinner Tejas Baroka -- an inexplicable choice with no experience of playing any match at the senior level -- was given a lesson of what to expect in top-flight cricket.
The youngster who has not been considered good enough to be a part of senior Delhi state side was handed a harsh lesson by the star Australian opener.
Warner dispatched his half-trackers to the boundary and lofted him for a huge six.
Kerala quick Basil Thampi was driven through the covers and cut for good measure as Warner picked the runs at will.
Warner finished off the match in grand style, as he lofted Baroka into long-on stands.
Electing to field, Sunrisers restricted Gujarat Lions to 135 for seven with Rashid claiming superb figures of three for 19 in four overs.
He rattled the Lions top-order with wickets of Brendon McCullum (5), Aaron Finch (3) and skipper Suresh Raina (5) in successive overs.
Sunrisers dominated with the bat as Warner smashed 76 from 45 balls, while Henriques hit an unbeaten 52 from 39 balls to help the hosts chase the target with ease with 27 deliveries remaining.
Lions never recovered from the setbacks even though Dinesh Karthik (30) and Dwayne Smith (37) added 56 runs for the fifth wicket to stem the rot.
But it was the damage done by the Afghan leg-spinner that spelt doom for Raina and his men.
McCullum was dimissed trying to sweep a googly while Raina played for the wrong one only to be fooled by an orthodox leg-break.
The hard-hitting Finch also failed to read a googly and in the process, was trapped plumb in-front.
He looked dangerous during his entire spell bowling as many 11 dot balls in four overs.
Seamer Bhuvneshwar Kumar (2/21 in 4 overs) and Ashish Nehra (1/27 in 4 overs) also chipped in with wickets at regular intervals.
Opener Jason Roy stroked a quickfire 31 off 21 balls to give Gujarat a brisk start before a mistimed pull shot off Bhuvneshwar brought his downfall.
Tottering at 57 for four, it wasn't easy for Karthik and Smith to pull things back with an attacking display as there weren't too many reputed batsmen left after them.
Karthik was uncharacteristically slow scoring 30 off 32 balls with two boundaries while Smith shot four boundaries and a six in 27 balls.
In the end, both were out in quick succession of each other and Lions finished with a sub-par total.
