STATS HIGHLIGHTS
Follow UsThe all awaited 15th edition of the Indian Premier League kicked off and the defending champs Chennai were up against Kolkata in the curtain raiser. However, the start to the edition wasn’t as exciting as expected.
It was a new beginning for both the teams as it had two new captains, Shreyas Iyer for Kolkata and Ravindra Jadeja for Chennai. The former won the flip of coin and insisted Chennai to bat. The decision to field turned out to be fruitful as Kolkata’s pacers, especially Umesh Yadav, picked up two wickets and the rest of the bowlers restricted Chennai batters to just 35 runs. In the next nine overs, the spinners took over and Chennai could score only 39 runs. At the end of 15th over, Chennai at 73/5, 120 looked a distant score. But, the “thala” MS Dhoni bashed 43 runs in the last five overs at a strike rate of 204.8 to propel them to a score of 131.
In reply, Kolkata openers, Ajinkya Rahane and Venkatesh Iyer were off to a good start as they piled on 43 runs without being separated. The introduction of Bravo in the seventh over, saw the wicket of V Iyer. Despite Kolkata losing three wickets, the target not being on the higher side, the remaining batsmen were able to finish off the game with ease. Eventually, Kolkata won by six wickets and nine balls remaining. There were few notable stats, here is a list of few:
Gaikwad’s starting trouble
On the back of scoring 600+ runs in the previous edition, Ruturaj Gaikwad was the orange cap winner of the 2021 edition. However, the lesser known fact is, he had a horrendous start. In fact, in both the seasons of IPL (2020 & 21) he has played, Gaikwad has suffered the same fate.
In the 2020 edition, Gaikwad in the first three matches had scores of 0, 5 & 0. In these three innings, he averaged only 1.7. However, in the next three innings he scored a 50+ in each of the three. Even in the previous edition, he had faced a similar problem. In the first three games of the 2021 edition, Gaikwad had a highest score of 10 and averaged only 6.7. Whereas, in the remaining 13 games, he scored 615 runs at an average of 55.9.
Rayudu sold-out for the 15th time
There are few batsmen who are prone to be dismissed through run-out, none other than Inzamam-ul-Haq is the best example of it. Similarly, Ambati Rayudu is nearing an unwanted record to his name in the IPL.
In the season opener against Kolkata, Rayudu was batting on 15 in the ninth over alongside Jadeja who was on strike. After Jadeja pushed the ball towards mid-wicket, he set off for a run and was late on denying it. Rayudu was half way down and had no chance of reaching back at the non-striker's end. Hence, Rayudu was run-out for the 15th time in IPL. Only Gautam Gambhir (16) and Shikhar Dhawan (16) have been dismissed through this mode more than him.
A middle over muddle
The reason behind Chennai’s low score was their slow batting in the middle overs. The wickets of Rayudu and Shivam Dube in the ninth over and 11th over brought Dhoni and Jadeja together. As has been the case with Dhoni in recent times, the slow start for both batsmen saw Chennai scoring only 39 runs in the middle overs (7-15). In the IPL, when Chennai batted all the nine overs between 7-15, against Delhi Capitals (35/4) in 2010 and against Mumbai Indians (35/3) in 2019, they had scored less.
Bravo in equal terms with Lasith Malinga
The player with most matches in T20s now is the joint leading wicket-taker in IPL. Dwayne Bravo, an integral part of the Chennai bowling outfit, picked up three wickets out of the four that fell for Kolkata in their chase of 132.
By picking up three wickets, Bravo is now on equal terms with Malinga who has bagged 170 wickets in the IPL. Bravo has bagged those 170 wickets at an average of 24 and a strike rate of 17.3. Among the bowlers with 100+ wickets in the IPL, only Malinga (16.6) has a better strike rate than Bravo (17.3).
Kolkata’s habit of starting with a win
Heading into the first match of IPL 2022, Kolkata had a disadvantage and an advantage. Speaking about the former topic, Kolkata in eleven matches prior to this had only one win at the Wankhede with a win percentage of nine percent, the worst for a team that has played five-plus IPL matches at a venue.
On the other hand, Kolkata in the first match of a season had lost only once out of the six played before. A scintillating bowling performance in the first innings saw them extend their advantage. They now have won six out of seven in the curtain raiser with a win percentage of 85.7 percent. Interestingly, their only loss came against Chennai in the 2011 season opener.
