Delhi Capitals (DC) skipper David Warner made history on Saturday by becoming the player with 500-plus runs in most Indian Premier League (IPL) seasons. Warner accomplished this feat during his side's IPL 2023 match against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in the national capital. In the match, Warner was back at his vintage self, scoring 86 in just 58 balls. His knock consisted of seven fours and five sixes. His runs came at a strike rate of 148.28.
In 14 matches of IPL 2023, he has 516 runs at an average of 36.85 and a strike rate of 131.63. He has scored six fifties this season, with the best score of 86. He is the sixth-highest run-scorer of this season. This is the seventh instance in which he crossed the 500-run mark in an IPL season, which is the most by any batter in the league's history.
He had previously done so in 2014 (528 runs), 2015 (562 runs, Orange Cap for most runs), 2016 (848 runs), 2017 (641 runs, Orange Cap winner), 2019 (692 runs, Orange Cap winner) and 2020 (548 runs).
Virat Kohli has done so six times, in 2011 (557 runs), 2013 (634 runs), 2015 (505 runs), 2016 runs (973 runs, Orange Cap winner), 2018 (530 runs) and 2023 (538 runs).
Shikhar Dhawan has done it five times, in 2012 (569 runs), 2016 (501 runs), 2019 (521 runs), 2020 (618 runs) and 2021 (587 runs).
KL Rahul has also done it five times, in 2018 (659 runs), 2019 (593 runs), 2020 (670 runs, Orange Cap winner), 2021 (626 runs) and 2022 (616 runs).
Warner is also the third-highest run-maker in IPL history and the highest run-scorer among overseas players. In 176 matches, he has scored 6,397 runs at an average of 41.54, with four centuries and 61 half-centuries. He is behind Shikhar Dhawan (6,617 runs) and Virat Kohli (7.162 runs).
In the match, CSK posted 223/3 in their 20 overs. Conway (87 in 52 balls, with 11 fours and three sixes) and Gaikwad (79 in 50 balls, with three fours and seven sixes) stitched a 141-run opening stand while valuable cameos came from Shivam Dube (22 in 9 balls) and Ravindra Jadeja (20* in seven balls). Khaleel Ahmed, Chetan Sakariya and Anrich Nortje got a wicket each.
In the chase of 224, skipper David Warner (86 off 58 balls, with seven fours and five sixes) found himself short of any support from the other end and DC could score only 146/9 in their 20 overs.
Deepak Chahar (3/22) was the pick of the bowlers for CSK. Maheesh Theekshana, Matheesha Pathirana took two wickets while Jadeja and Tushar Deshpande got a wicket each.
Gaikwad clinched the 'Player of the Match' for his fifty.
CSK has qualified for the playoffs. They finish the league stage in second position with eight wins, five losses and no result in 14 games. They have a total of 17 points. DC finish their campaign with five wins and nine losses in 14 games, with a total of 10 points. They are currently at the ninth position in the points table.
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