A third of the league stage of the 2020 Indian Premier League has swiftly gone by in the last three weeks. We at CricViz are back with ‘The IPL Week in Six Numbers’ where we look at some of the key moments, innings, knocks, phases that have emerged so far and dive into the numbers that defined these moments. CricViz’s Srinivas Vijaykumar lists out the key numbers in the third edition of this series.
10.56 – The ridiculous scoring rate at Sharjah in the four games so far in this IPL. Small boundaries, flat pitches and with the batting riches at their disposal, teams haven’t broken a sweat to post 200+ totals. Across all T20 series in the history of the format, we’ve never seen teams scoring at 10.56 rpo at a venue. Of the 981 combinations where four or matches have been played at a venue in a T20 series – Sharjah in IPL 2020 is right at the top of the list, and well clear of the ones that follow. It wouldn’t be a surprise if Sharjah continues to be at the top at the end of the competition.
12.3– Kagiso Radaba is the leading wicket taker, the purple cap holder, in this IPL with 12 wickets in five matches. He has conceded at 7.5 rpo and picked up a wicket once in 10 deliveries. The South African seamer’s consistency is unparalleled with his strike rate this year not very far out from his overall strike rate of 12.3 having played 23 IPL matches. Rabada has picked up a wicket in 21 out of 23 IPL matches. Of all the 146 bowlers to have bowled 300+ balls in the history of the IPL, none have a better strike rate compared to the Delhi seamer.
22% – Spinners are coming into action early in the innings as more and more matches are being played on these pitches in the UAE. In the first nine matches, spinners bowled 10% of the powerplay overs. In the last ten matches, that just now jumped to 22% – moving on par with last few IPL seasons – 25% (2019), 26% (2018). 22% (2017). The slower bowlers have also been a lot more economical conceding at 7.15 rpo in the Powerplay in these last ten matches. As a part of the rotation using all the strips across the three venues, not more than two consecutive matches are played on a strip. However, when we see more and more matches played on these pitches we can expect the spinners to come into the game even more.
24 – T Natarajan has delivered 24 yorkers in this IPL – the most of any bowler and significantly higher than the rest of the seamers in the competition. Along with the volume of yorkers the SRH left arm seamer has bowled, he’s also been effective conceding at 7.33 rpo when he’s landed them. He has bowled 12 yorkers each to both right & left-handers. 13 of his total yorkers have been at the death conceding at 6.5 rpo. With Bhuvneshwar Kumar ruled out for the IPL, the responsibility of the go-to death bowler for SRH will mostly fall on the left-armer’s shoulders and it will be interesting to see if he can maintain this exceptional level of accuracy.
+9.1 – Kieron Pollard is in the form of his life with the bat in T20s in 2020. This year he has scored 435 runs in 12 innings at an incredible 12.48 rpo. Five of these innings have been in the IPL where he’s scored 163 runs at 12.53 rpo, dismissed only on one occasion. Pollard’s batting impact in IPL 2020 is currently +9.1 – the best in a season across his IPL career since he made his debut for MI in 2010. Pollard is the leader of this MI middle order engine room and if he can keep delivering such ridiculous performances, MI will be eyeing a record-extending fifth IPL crown.
37.8 – When Prithvi Shaw does well at the top of the order for Delhi it often results in a win for the franchise in the IPL. The right-hander opening batsman averages 37.8 at 8,81 rpo with an impact of +3.0 in the matches DC/DD have won and when they’ve lost he averages 14.4 at 7.74 rpo with an impact of -3.8. In the matches DC have won two points this year, Shaw has scored 42 v RCB, 66 v KKR, 64 v CSK & 5 (tie v KXIP). Shaw’s good starts are pivotal for DC as it translates into strong Powerplays laying platforms for their dynamic middle order. Across his IPL career when he’s gone part the 25-run mark, DC have taken two points on 9 of the 10 occasions.
Srinivas Vijaykumar is an analyst at CricViz. Follow him on Twitter @srini_vk
