STATS HIGHLIGHTS
Follow UsThe second double header day of IPL 2022 and it went completely against the trend. Prior to the two matches today, in eight matches teams chasing had won seven. However, both the games today were won by teams defending.
In the first match, Rajasthan who had won their first encounter while defending, posted yet another big total (193/8) against Mumbai, thanks to a ton by Jos Buttler. A cameo by Shimron Hetmyer (35 off 14 balls) propelled them to the score.
In reply, Mumbai lost Rohit Sharma early. But, the youngsters, Ishan Kishan (54) and Tilak Varma (61) kept their hope alive with half-century scores. But, Yuzvendra Chahal’s back-to-back wickets brought Rajasthan back into the game. Eventually, Rajasthan won another game while defending.
In the second match, Shubman Gill, yet another opener, dismantled the Delhi bowling line up with a 46-ball 84. Contributions by Hardik Pandya (31), David Miller (20*) and Rahul Tewatia (14 off 8 balls) saw Gujarat post 171/6.
Considering the might of Gujarat bowling line up, the target of 172 was a tall task for Delhi. Just as their reputation, Gujarat bowlers put Delhi in a spot of bother after they reduced them to 43/3 at the end of Powerplay. The skipper, Rishabh Pant’s valiant knock of 43 from 29 balls wasn’t enough as Lockie Ferguson ripped apart the Delhi batting unit with his four-fer. With two wins in two, Gujarat’s start has been a fruitful one. Here are some stats from both matches:
Buttler hits his second ton in IPL
Since he moved to Rajasthan, Buttler’s IPL career has taken a u-turn. Playing for Mumbai in his initial years, Buttler had scored runs at an average of 25.1. Post his shift, he has scored over 1500 runs for Rajasthan at an average of 42.6 with two centuries.
With multiple centuries for the franchise, Buttler became the fourth Rajasthan batsman after Shane Watson, Ajinkya Rahane and Sanju Samson to hit two or more centuries for the team. In addition, he became the seventh batter to score a century against Mumbai in IPL.
A slow innings that didn’t affect the team
Scoring a century in a T20 innings deserves praise and that too scoring it against a team like Mumbai, is immeasurable. However, in his standards or overall, a 66-ball century in T20s is slow. Thankfully, it didn’t hamper the team’s victory.
The 66-ball ton by Buttler is the joint second slowest century in IPL. Manish Pandey’s tin in 2009 against the now-defunct Deccan Chargers came of 67 balls. In the end, Buttler scored exactly a 100 of 68 balls. His strike rate at the end of his knock was 147.1, which is the slowest 100+ innings in IPL.
Kishan continues to make an impact
If someone wants to learn how to handle the pressure of carrying a huge price tag, Kishan is the Dean. Two innings and two impactful knocks by the costliest buy in the IPL mega auction 2022.
Though his knocks have come in losing cause, Kishan’s form and consistency is something Mumbai would be longing for. Following his unbeaten knock of 81 in the first match, Kishan once again lit the stage with another 50+ score. In the 2021 season, Kishan had ended the season with two 50+ scores for Mumbai and in this season, he has added two more to his tally, making it four on the trot. By virtue of it, he became the first Mumbai batsman to achieve the feat in IPL.
Tilak making a name for himself
Kishan has not been the only takeaway for Mumbai in their losses. The performance of Tilak Varma in his two innings has also been an encouragement. He looked good in his knock of 22 against Delhi in his first match, but was even better against Rajasthan.
Despite losing two early wickets, he forged an 81-run partnership with Kishan for the third wicket that kept Mumbai in the chase. He registered his maiden IPL fifty at the age of 19 years and 145 days, making him the youngest Mumbai batsman to hit a half-century.
Chahal continues his good run against Mumbai
With 144 wickets to his name, Chahal is slowly creeping towards becoming the best Indian bowler in the league. Apart from Ravi Ashwin, none of the bowlers are currently playing and Chahal is just two wickets behind Ashwin (146).
Out of those 144 wickets, 24 of them have come against Mumbai at an average of 20.5 and strike rate 15.5. In his outing against Mumbai in Match 9, Chahal picked up the wicket of Tim David and Daniel Sams in successive deliveries and almost had a hat-trick, but Karun Nair dropped a catch at slips. Nevertheless, this was the eighth innings in which Chahal had bagged two-plus wickets against Mumbai in IPL. Only Dwayne Bravo has achieved the feat in more innings (10).
A rare loss for Mumbai
Jasprit Bumrah is a prominent figure in the Mumbai outfit. After going for plenty in his first match, Bumrah bounced back with bowling figures of 3/17 in his four overs. In his IPL career, this was the 17th time Bumrah conceded less than five runs per over. In the 16 previous matches, Mumbai had never lost a game. However, their match against Rajasthan marked the first ever loss for Mumbai after Bumrah conceded less than five runs per over.
Gill records his highest score in T20s
On the back of the withdrawal of Jason Roy, a lot is dependent on Gill as an opener for Gujarat. After a tame dismissal that saw him head towards the pavilion for a duck in the first match, Gill bounced back with a sensational innings against Delhi.
In fact, a new and improvised Gill was seen batting. In his first 20 balls, he scored at a strike rate of 150 and then he carried his momentum and scored at a strike rate of 207.7 after 20 balls. He was on course for a century, but was dismissed for 84. In any case, his score of 84 in the match against Delhi was his highest T20 score.
Ferguson joins Boult and McLenaghan
The Gujarat pace battery is one of the strongest and the quickest among all the teams in this edition. Each of their pacers can consistently breach the 140 barriers. Lockie Ferguson is for sure the leader of the attack, when it comes to sheer pace.
With that pace, he dismantled the Delhi batting unit as he picked up four wickets for 28 runs. In the IPL, only two other New Zealand bowlers have bagged a four-wicket haul. Trent Boult against Chennai Super Kings in 2020 (4/18) and Mitchell McLenaghan against the now-defunct Gujarat Lions in 2016 (4/21) are the other two bowlers.
