David Warner, the Australian left-hander who has returned to the IPL after a year-hiatus, has left a deep impact in the first two matches played by his side. With his knock of 69 runs off 37 balls on Friday - during the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) vs Rajasthan Royals (RR) match - Warner is now leading the race to become the VIVO IPL 2019 Orange Cap winner.

With his second consecutive fifty today, Warner has surged ahead of KKR middle-order striker Nitish Rana -- whose 63-run knock took him to the first position in the orange cap holders' race. Rana's total of 131 runs has been surpassed by Warner, who has so far scored 154 runs in IPL 2019.

In the match against RR today, Warner's inning included 9 fours and 2 sixes. His aggressive start positioned SRH right into the game, while chasing a mammoth total of 199.

In the previous contest featuring SRH against KKR, Warner had emerged as the top run scorer with 85 off 53 balls. His innings had included 9 fours and 3 sixes.

Apart from the first two league stage matches, Warner had also struck a fifty (65 off 38 balls) during the practice match between Sunrisers A vs Sunrisers B.

Besides Warner and Rana, other top contenders in the orange cap race so far include Rishabh Pant (103), Robin Uthappa (102) and Chris Gayle (99). The current stats are based on a maximum of two games played by each side. The rankings are expected to be rejigged on daily basis, at least in the first half of the tournament.

Notably, Warner had scored 641 runs in the last IPL edition he played in 2017. Sunrisers, which was then being captained by him, had succeeded in reaching the playoffs, and were eliminated by the KKR.

So far, Warner has played 4 IPL editions for SRH, and has scored more than 500 runs in each of the season. In 2016, he had led the side to clinch their first premiere league title.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 29, 2019 11:32 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).