STATS NUGGETS
Follow UsIn a game that saw multiple twists and turns, Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) defeated Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) by 10 runs on Monday (September 21). Here are a few noteworthy statistical nuggets – apart from the usual number-crunching – from the game:
Stunning debut
Karnataka stalwart Devdutt Padikkal became only the fifth RCB player to score 50-plus on debut. He joins the likes of Chris Gayle, AB de Villiers, Yuvraj Singh and Shreevats Goswami who have managed the same on their debuts for the franchise.
Gayle, however, still remains the only RCB player to have converted that into a hundred. Padikkal’s 56 is the third-highest score by an Indian on IPL debut after Swapnil Asnodkar and Gautam Gambhir.
Padikkal, along with Aaron Finch – playing for his eighth IPL franchise – put on 90 for the first wicket to set the platform for the batsmen to follow. He was eventually dismissed for a 42-ball 56, which is the second-highest score for RCB on debut.
Padikkal now has fifties on his First-Class, List A, T20 and IPL debuts.
Below-par Kohli
RCB captain Virat Kohli is yet to register a 50-plus score in T20 cricket in 2020. He was dismissed for 14 against SRH, which is the seventh successive innings this year he has gone without a fifty. He currently averages under 30 and is striking at 137.8 this year. His last 50-plus score in T20s was the 70 against West Indies in December 2019.
In the IPL, since his century against Kolkata Knight Riders last season, he has scores of 9, 13, 23, 15, 16 and 14. But with a player of his calibre, you would expect a big score soon.
Yet another feather in AB’s cap
AB de Villiers became just the second batsman to hit 200 sixes for RCB in the IPL, with only Chris Gayle (239) having hit more for the franchise in the tournament. Overall, de Villiers has the most sixes (214) after Gayle (329) in the IPL.
De Villiers hit four fours and a couple of sixes on his way to a 30-ball 51 against SRH, which propelled his side’s total to 163 for 5. Even when it comes to hitting fours, de Villiers has hit 361 of them, which is the best after David Warner (459) and Gayle (368) among overseas players.
Outstanding Bairstow
Jonny Bairstow continued from where he left off last season with a superb fifty here. He will be disappointed that he did not finish the match for Sunrisers, but that doesn’t take away the fact that he has been quite brilliant since making his IPL debut last season.
In 11 IPL innings so far, he has scored 506 runs at an average of 56.22 and a strike rate of 155.2. Currently, he is the only batsman in the history of the league to have an average of 50+ and a strike rate of 150+.
Eight wickets in 27 deliveries
With the score reading 121/2 in the 16th over, the Hyderabad-based franchise seemed to be firm favourites. Up against Yuzvendra Chahal in his final over, the well-set Bairstow went for an ill-advised big shot and was bowled for 61. Surely, at that time, they should have just seen off Chahal who was easily RCB’s best bowler on the day.
A delivery later, Vijay Shankar was bowled by a googly and with two wickets from as many balls, Chahal had turned the match on its head. SRH lost their last eight wickets for 32 runs in 27 deliveries, an incredible batting collapse under the circumstances.
A winning start for RCB
It’s no secret that the three seasons prior to this have been underwhelming for the team from Bengaluru. On all three of those occasions, they began their campaign with a loss from which they found it hard to turn things around. In fact, last season, they lost their first six matches.
Hence, this victory will be very welcomed in the RCB camp – at least they aren’t starting on the back-foot this time around.
(Image Courtesy: BCCI)
