The 2019 Indian Premier League is heading into its business end, with just 18 20-over matches left before the season’s winner is crowned.
42 games in, here’s a look at seven quirky stats from the IPL season so far.
1. Most Runs Scored by a Batsman Off One Bowler
Call it strange karma or whatever, but the most runs scored by a batsman off one particular bowler in this season’s IPL is KL Rahul’s tally of 49 runs scored off Hardik Pandya.
The two players, who have been in the news for several reasons, have squared off on two occasions this season, and the KXIP batsman Rahul has emerged triumphant on both occasions.
In the first meeting in Mohali, Rahul scored 17 runs off the 11 balls Hardik bowled to him. In the subsequent meeting in Mumbai, Rahul hit a boundary and three sixes, and scored a total of 32 runs off the 12 balls Hardik bowled to him.
2. Most Consecutive Dot Balls in an Innings
The ignominy of facing the most consecutive dot balls in an innings this season goes to Shane Watson. In the season-opening clash between the defending champions Chennai Super Kings and Royal Challengers Bangalore, the CSK opener faced 10 deliveries without scoring a run; it is the longest sequence of dot balls faced up by a batsman in this season’s IPL.
Watson’s miserable stay at the crease ended when he was castled up by Yuzvendra Chahal off the tenth ball he faced.
3. Most Consecutive Boundaries Hit
Andre Russell holds the record for the most consecutive boundaries (fours or sixes) hit by a batsman this IPL season. In Kolkata Knight Riders’ match against Kings XI Punjab, Russell collected boundaries off 8 consecutive deliveries at one point in his innings. Russell, who walked out to bat in the fifteenth over, scored five singles off the first seven balls he faced. He then decimated the KXIP bowling attack, collecting fours or sixes off the next eight balls. Courtesy his 8-ball blitz – during which he hit 3 fours and 5 sixes – he raced to 48 in 16 balls before he holed out with two balls remaining in the innings.
4. Most Balls Bowled Without Conceding a Six
It might surprise many, but the record for the most deliveries bowled this season without conceding a six is held by Stuart Binny. The Rajasthan Royals all-rounder has bowled five overs – or 30 balls – this season without conceding a six. The all-rounder from Karnataka has been extremely economical too; in the five overs he’s bowled, he’s only conceded runs at a rate of 5.60 runs per over.
5. Six Off First Ball Faced in an Innings
T20 is a format where batsmen have the licence to play their shots from the word go. In the current season of the IPL, a handful of batsmen have used the licence to play freely and opened their account in style; five batsmen have hit the first legal delivery they’ve faced in an innings for six.
The Rajasthan Royals’ Ben Stokes was the first to achieve the feat, while the KXIP captain Ravichandran Ashwin was the latest to join the list after he hit the first delivery he faced in the match against RCB for a six.
6. Quickest 50-run Partnership
The quickest 50-run partnership in this season’s IPL came off just 13 legal deliveries. In KKR’s match against RCB, Andre Russell and Shubman Gill added 53 runs for the sixth wicket. The duo got together at the start of the 18th over, and 13 balls later, they were punching gloves for a 50-run partnership and celebrating a win. Not surprisingly, Russell was the dominant partner in that stand; he contributed 47 runs to that partnership, while young Gill’s share was 3 runs!
7. Most Dismissals of Top-Order Batsmen
Kagiso Rabada holds the Purple Cap with a haul of 23 wickets this season. If ever there’s a Cap presented to a bowler for picking up the most top-order wickets – top-order defined as batsmen batting in the top three – then the Kings XI Punjab captain Ravichandran Ashwin would be the recipient of that honour.
Ashwin, despite being a spinner – and a finger-spinner at that – has been impressive right through the season; off his 12 wickets so far this season, 11 are of batsmen batting in the top three.
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