The new season of the Indian Premier League will be played without star Australian batsman David Warner. This time Warner, who has retired from international cricket, was not bought by any team in the IPL mega auction. However, this time Warner made a comeback in his country's T20 league Big Bash League and captaining his team, he has now taken it to the finals. Yes, the Sydney Thunder team captained by Warner has reached the finals of BBL-14. With this, this team will play the title match after a long wait of 9 years.

Sydney Thunder and Sydney Sixers faced each other in the Challenger match played on Friday 24 January at the Sydney Cricket Ground. There might have been no hope for the Thunder to win against the three-time champion Sydney Sixers, but Warner, while captaining this season, breathed such life into the Sydney Thunder, the effect of which was visible on the field and they defeated their local rival Sixers without any problem. Defeated by 6 wickets.

Sixers batted first in this match and could score 151 runs in 7 overs. Jordan Silk's unbeaten inning of 43 runs in 30 balls took the team to this score. Wes Agar took 2 wickets for Thunder. In response, Thunder captain Warner was out after scoring only 11 runs but his teammates completed the mission. English batsman Sam Billings scored unbeaten 42 runs in 29 balls and took the team to victory in the 19th over itself. Apart from him, opener Jason Sangha scored 30 runs in 19 balls.

This victory is very special for Sydney Thunder because its wait of last 9 years is over. The Thunder team had earlier reached the finals in the 2015-16 season and then successfully won their only title by winning the finals. Incidentally, it was under the captaincy of David Warner that Sunrisers Hyderabad won its only IPL title in 2016.

Now Warner is the captain of Thunder and this will be only the second final of his team. In such a situation, he will enter the finals of Thunder to maintain his 100 percent record. Thunder will face the challenge of Hobart Hurricanes in the final to be held on January 27. Hobart has reached the finals for the third time but is waiting for its first title.