Australia opener David Warner has rediscovered the batting touch that deserted him in the Test series against India, clubbing an unbeaten 76 to guide Sunrisers Hyderabad to victory over Gujarat Lions.
Warner and his NSW teammate Moises Henriques (52no) guided the Sunrisers to a nine-wicket IPL win as the hosts comfortably reached their target of 136 with 27 balls to spare.
The 29-year-old also became only the fourth player to pass 7000 T20 runs following in the footsteps of West Indies master-blaster Chris Gayle, New Zealand's Brendon McCullum and fellow Australian Brad Hodge.
Sunrisers skipper Warner won the toss and elected to field and the decision was vindicated as 18-year-old Afghanistan legspinner Rashid Khan ripped through the Lions' powerful top order.
He dismissed McCullum for just five before sending Suresh Raina (3) and Aaron Finch (3) back to the pavilion cheaply.
A brisk 31 from England's Jason Roy and 37 from West Indies allrounder Dwayne Smith were not enough to give the visiting bowlers a meaningful target to defend.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar dismissed Shikhar Dhawan for nine to give the Lions some early hope, but the Australian duo steadied the ship and Warner sealed the win with a huge six.
Warner was full of praise for Rashid and tipped the teenager to have a huge future in the game.
"I wanted to try him in the first six, and he said 'give me the ball,''" Warner said.
"He's a superstar in the making and adds great dynamics to our team."
Chris Lynn was unable to help Kolkota Knight Riders to victory with the Mumbai Indians edging to a thrilling four-wicket win with one ball remaining.
Lynn scored 32 in his side's 7-178 but a quickfire 50 from Nitish Rana helped Mumbai chalk up their first win of the season.
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