IPL 2020: SRH skipper David Warner beats Virat Kohli in an elite IPL record

David Warner beat Virat Kohli to become the quickest batsman to reach 5,000 runs in the Indian Premier League (IPL) on Sunday. The Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) captain achieved the milestone during his side's IPL 2020 match against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi.

Before SRH's Sunday fixture against KKR, Warner was 10 runs away from the record. Batting first, Warner clinched the milestone in the 14th over, which was bowled by his compatriot Pat Cummins. Warner struck the second ball of the over to mid-off and with an easy single, Warner completed his 5,000 runs in the IPL.

Warner took 135 innings to touch the 5,000-mark in the IPL, 22 innings fewer than Kohli, who was the first batsman to record 5K runs in the tournament. Warner became only the fourth batsman and first overseas player to enter the elite 5,000-club in the IPL after Kohli, Suresh Raina, and Rohit Sharma. Raina and Rohit took 173 and 187 innings respectively to reach 5,000 runs in the Indian T20 league.

Kohli currently is at the top of the run-scoring charts with 5,759 runs in 186 matches, followed by Chennai Super Kings (CSK) batsman Raina with 5,368 runs in 193 matches, and Mumbai Indians (MI) skipper Rohit with 5,149 runs in 196 appearances. Among these players, only Kohli is yet to win the prestigious IPL trophy.

Warner, who led SRH to the IPL title in 2016, has won the Orange Cap award thrice so far after finishing with most runs in IPL 2015, 2017, and 2019. Overall, in the T20s, Warner is one of the only seven batsmen to have scored 9,000 or more runs. While Chris Gayle leads the chart, having scored over 13,000 runs, Warner is placed fifth in the list. The other five batsmen on the list are Kieron Pollard, Aaron Finch, Shoaib Mallik, Brendon McCullum, and Kohli.