Monday, April 28, 2008

IPL Leaders - End of Q1 Results

14 matches of the Indian Premier League have been completed in 10 days - thats 25% of the 56 matches to be played over 40 days in the group stage.

I think this is a good time to take a look at the top performers of the IPL thus far.

Leading Batsmen
1. Brendon McCullum (KKR) - 187 runs at 93.50
2. Matthew Hayden (KXIP) - 176 runs at 88.00
3. Kumar Sangakkara (KXIP)- 172 runs at 43.00
4. Shane Watson (RR) - 162 runs at 81.00
5. Andrew Symonds (DC) - 161 runs at 80.50

85% of McCullum's and 72% of Symond's runs have come from 1 innings. Plus their averages are inflated because of those innings being unbeaten ones. Hayden, Sangakkara, and Watson on the other hand have been more consistent.

The international players have performed better than their Indian counterparts - the first Indian to appear in the list of leading run scorers is Yuvraj Singh at 7 who only has a single 50 plus score in 4 innings.

Uthappa, Sehwag, R. Sharma, Raina, Y. Pathan, and Abhishek Nayar are some of the Indians who have done well in bursts but none has matched the top internationals.

Sachin hasn't played yet and the other 3 of the famous Big 4 - Ganguly, Dravid, and Laxman - haven't done anything of note.

With the likes of Misbah, Gibbs, and Hodge coming in to the teams and Gilchrist and Greame Smith batting with form it will be interesting to see how the above table changes over the course of the IPL.

Leading Bowlers
1. Irfan Pathan (KXIP) - 7 wickets at 16.14
2. Ajit Agarkar (KKR) - 6 wickets at 10.50
3. Shane Warne (RR) - 6 wickets at 17.50
4. Shahid Afridi (DC) - 5 wickets at 15.40
5. Harbhajan Singh (MI) - 5 wickets at 16.40

Unlike the batting, 3 Indian bowlers dominate the top 5 wicket takers of the IPL. Thats a surprise.

Whats not surprising though is that 3 of the top 5 bowlers are spinners in Warne, Afridi, and Bhajji. Last year's 20-20 world cup showed that spinners in this form of the game are very potent attacking weapons and it is no surprise to see them high up in the list.

Afridi is the highest wicket taker in all 20-20 internationals and he was also one of the leading wicket takers of the 20-20 world cup, which also got him the 'player of the tournament award'. He has been in brilliant form with the ball for the Chargers and I reckon he will end up as one of the highest, if not the highest wicket taker in the IPL. Shane Warne will as well.

Indian bowlers have done better than their batsmen as another 3 in RP Singh, Rajat Bhatia, and VRV Singh feature in the top 10 list. Who said India's batting is its strength?

Watch out for Dale Steyn who joins RCB this week and Umar Gul who joins KKR. Steyn wrecked the Windies with scorching yorkers in a 20-20 game earlier this year, while Gul finished top of the wicket taking list at last years 20-20 world cup.

Other Stats
Highest Team Score: 240-5, CSK vs KXIP.
Highest Individual Score: 158*, Brendon McCullum (KKR) vs RCB.
Best Strike Rate: 219.60, Virender Sehwag (DDD).
Most Sixes: 15, Brendon McCullum (KKR).
Best Bowling Performance: 3-17, Murali Karthik (KKR) vs DC.
Best Economy Rate: 4.00, Mohammad Hafeez (KKR).

I'll update these lists and stats in another 10 days after the next 14 matches as the IPL reaches its half way stage. Will these players continue their run of form or will others rise to out-perform them?

The next 10 days provides cracking battles with the likes of Delhi and Mumbai bringing their historical Ranjhi rivalry into the IPL, Warne's high spirited Royal taking on Ganguly's Knight Riders, Dravid's Royal Challengers taking on old friend and team mate Laxman's Chargers, and a whole lot more.

And it all starts today with Indian captain Dhoni's Super Kings going up against the man Dhoni took over from, Dravid's, Royal Challengers.

This will be the farewell game for Hayden, Hussey, Oram, and Taylor, so keep an eye out for top performances from them. Misbah and Steyn could play as soon as tonight, and if that happens, the favorites CSK could be in for a tough one.

As always, tonight at 230PM GMT.

Make your pitch on this post...



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5 Pitched:

  1. Anonymous said...
     

    More great work, Q. Keep it up, old bean.

  2. Trideep said...
     

    Very well written post Q.

  3. Q said...
     

    Thanks guys.

  4. Anonymous said...
     

    Very nice round-up, Q. If I ever wore a hat, I'd be tipping it right now. Some interesting results, as well. I'll probably link to it in a post soon.

  5. Q said...
     

    Good to see u here DS. Your coverage of the IPL has been pretty good too man.

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