How David Warner upped the ante and got back to his best

David Warner unleashed his batting prowess to sink Kolkata Knight Riders in the 37^th match of IPL 2017 at Hyderabad. Warner’s magnificent display of pure power and quality striking enabled SRH to reach 209 which proved too much for KKR to chase.

By hammering 126 runs from 59 balls, the southpaw continued his amazing batting form and has also snatched the orange cap from Gautam Gambhir. More than his exceptional power hitting, his approach and clarity of mind was fascinating to watch and hence this innings from the Hyderabad captain will rank among his bests.

The knock that made the difference

Although Warner was looking good throughout this season, somehow his numbers weren’t that impressive. His striking was unlike Warner and the trademark big hits were somehow missing. But now it seems that, after yesterday’s innings, the normalcy is back in his stats.

Warner's stats before and after his hundred

	Innings	Runs	Strike rate	Average	Ball per 4	Balls per 6
Till 29th April	8	333	135.91	47.57	7.42	17.50
After 30th April	9	459	150.98	65.57	7.06	13.81

The above table indicates how the left-hand batsman gained heavily after his yesterday’s heroics against Kolkata Knight Riders.The increased boundary percentage shows how freely he batted in the last game.

Aggressive batting in the last two innings

After the first seven matches, the Australian batsman had a strike rate of 129.35 which is perhaps on the lower side considering a player of his stature. Hence, in the last two innings, Warner batted with a different mindset and has reaped rewards from his aggressive approach.

Percentage of total balls faced by Warner

	First 7 innings	Last 2 innings
4’s	12.38	16.27
6’s	5.50	13.95
2’s	5.04	9.30
1’s	38.53	31.39
Dot balls	38.53	26.74

The above table reveals that Warner has reduced his dot-ball percentage considerably (difference of 11.79 %) while there is a significant increase in his boundary shots (from 17.88 to 30.22). Courtesy of this changed batting approach, Warner’s strike rate in the last two innings is a staggering 205.81.

Williamson’s support

Williamson has added some much-needed solidity in the middle order

One of the striking differences in Warner’s batting in the last two matches is his clarity of mind. He has decided to attack from the word go and has not held himself back while playing those high-risk strokes.

In the earlier matches, the entire batting order of SRH relied on their skipper. While batting, Warner always had to ensure he didn’t expose their vulnerable middle order early in the innings and hence was forced to take a calmer approach.

But in the recent matches, Kane Williamson has added solidarity in SRH’s batting line-up and has become a strong force at number three. Williamson’s impressive performance has allowed Warner to play freely and in the last two games, the southpaw had no hesitation in playing those high-risk strokes.

All guns blazing in Power plays

Due to his ability to manoeuvre gaps and hit the ball from the onset, Warner is considered as one of the most dangerous batsmen in the powerplay overs. With his all-out aggression, he has the potential to bat out the opposition inside the first six overs.

But due to his conservative approach, Warner failed to exploit the fielding restrictions during powerplay overs. By changing his mindset in the last two innings, he has made better use of the fielding restrictions.

Warner during the first six overs

	First 7 innings	Last 2 innings
Runs	120	88
Balls	99	40
Strike Rate	121.12	220
4’s	16	8
6’s	3	6
Balls per four	6.18	5
Balls per six	33	6.66

In the first seven innings, Warner had struck a boundary every 5.21 balls while in the last two innings he has hit a boundary shot every 2.85 balls. This means the Australian batsman has almost doubled his boundary shots in the last two innings.

Picking his area

Warner played to his strengths

Although Warner has the ability to plunder runs from any part of the ground, like most batsmen his strength also lies on the leg side. Especially the arc from square leg to long on. But until his 8^th innings, Warner was unable to focus on his strong zone and only one-fourth of his runs came from that region.

But, while coming back to his natural style of aggressive batting, he has once again mustered heavy runs in his strong zone.

Warner's runs between square leg and long on

	First 7 innings	Last 2 innings
Total Runs	70	80
% of total runs	24.82	45.19
4’s	16	8
6’s	3	6

One of the key elements from this table is the boundaries. In first seven innings, Warner scored only 19 boundaries in the arc between square leg and long on but in the last two games, the number has gone up to 14. This increased boundary percentage has enabled the southpaw to accumulate runs at a quick pace.

With Warner finding his mojo and Williamson adding more strength, the batting line up of Hyderabad looks red hot at the moment. And add to it Dhawan’s potential, you have one of the best top three batsmen for this year’s IPL.

Warner’s success in the last two matches is a throwback to the old method of regaining confidence which focuses on exploiting proven strengths and having a clarity of mind. Warner has done that so far and the upcoming games are going to be fascinating to watch.