The 2020 Indian Premier League has continued into its second week with more action packed games. We at CricViz look at some of the key moments, innings, knocks, phases that have emerged so far and bring you ‘The IPL Week in Six Numbers’ where we’ll dive into the numbers that defined these moments. CricViz’s Rufus Bullough lists out the key numbers in the second edition of this series.
62 – Sharjah has seen an average of 31 sixes per game so far in the two IPL matches hosted at this venue. The S117 road that runs alongside the stadium has frequently seen balls crashing into it, as road safety has been constantly threatened. This has led to over 800 runs being scored in the four innings played at this postage stamp of a ground, and an overall run-rate of 10.36 runs per over. On average this season, a maximum has been struck every 7.8 deliveries bowled at Sharjah, which is more than twice as often as the Chinnaswarmy (15.9 balls) and the Wankhede (18.9 balls) two other grounds well known for their smaller playing surfaces and frequent sixes. To further contextualise, Dubai has seen four fewer sixes in its first five matches registering just 58, and therefore averages 5.8 sixes per innings, far less than Sharjah’s ludicrous 15.5 sixes per innings.
224 – To add to the Sharjah six smashing madness, Rajasthan Royals completed the highest ever successful run chase in IPL history finishing on 226/6 (19.3) in reply to King’s XI 223/2. Sanju Samson sparkled again for RR with 85 (42), which featured seven maximums and had an impact rating of +10.1. In the final. With five overs remaining, Rajasthan needed 84 runs to win and had just an 11% chance on WinViz, before Rahul Tewatia hit 39 runs off 10 deliveries to help guide the royals home to a historic victory.
6.00 – Virat Kohli has not had the restart he and his legions of fans worldwide would have hoped for. He has scored just 18 runs from three innings and has a batting impact of -33.7, which is the second worst in the tournament behind Murali Vijay’s -41.3. This is the worst start he has ever had to an IPL season.
3.6% – Shubman Gill has batted with remarkable control throughout his first three matches, scoring 124 runs from 107 balls. While being consistent and somewhat unspectacular, the number that stands out is his false shot percentage of 3.6%. That means he has missed or edged just four deliveries in this year’s IPL, which is astounding. The next player on the list is Kane Williamson, who has just played just one innings in the tournament and has a false shot percentage of 3.8%. The fact that Gill still has the lowest false shot percentage after playing three innings is a real testament to his control, and while it will surely head in one direction in the games to come, demonstrates why he is held in such high regard.
+31.0 – Mohammed Shami has the second highest total Bowling impact of anyone in the tournament, behind Jofra Archer. He has taken seven wickets so far in the competition and is the joint holder of the purple cap with Rabada. He has taken three of his wickets in the Powerplay, and has an impact total of +31.0 in overs 1-6. This is the highest of any bowler in the competition for a single phase of the innings. During the middle and at the death he has not been nearly as effective however, registering impact totals of +3.6 and -6.5 respectively. Shami’s Powerplay impact underlines the enormous value of wickets early in the innings.
12% – When Ishan Kishan walked to the crease for his first bat of this year’s IPL, his side were in trouble. At 23 for 2, chasing 202 for victory, WinViz gave the Mumbai Indians a 12% chance of chasing down their target. Things would get worse before they got better: WinViz even dropped to just 3% at the start of the 8th over, with Mumbai 42/3, but Kishan batted superbly and finished on 99 (58). With supporting knocks from Pollard and Hardik, Mumbai were dragged up to the target, before falling one run short of victory, and losing in the subsequent super over.
Rufus Bullough is an analyst for CricViz
Follow him on Twitter @rufus_cricket
