Lalit Yadav and Axar Patel pulled off a heist as Delhi Capitals toppled Mumbai Indians in the afternoon game and a late onslaught from the irresistible Odean Smith saw Punjab Kings chase down a 200-plus total in the night game against Royal Challengers Bangalore.
Here we dissect the two matches that raise a few burning questions which could potentially hold importance in future games.
Why Delhi Capitals didn’t play Sarfaraz Khan?
Sarfaraz Khan joined DC fresh from a stunning Ranji Trophy season where he averaged 130+ for Mumbai, but form in the longer format has never been a factor in picking T20 teams. However, in Sarfaraz’s case, there’s every reason Delhi Capitals should have backed him for this game, and for future matches.
With just two overseas players at their disposal, DC went for Mandeep Singh and Lalit Yadav, who also offers a bit of part-time bowling, in the batting line-up. But Sarfaraz adds something neither of these players does — proficiency against pace. The middle-order batter strikes at over 150 against pace in his IPL career.
With Rishabh Pant’s overall strike rate going down in the last couple of years and Rovman Powell still untested in the IPL, Sarfaraz adds value in the middle-order and should have been used ahead of the other Indian domestic players. While Lalit Yadav’s knock formed the fulcrum around which DC managed a win, without Axar’s cameo that would still not have materialised.
A dynamic player, who is also in form as his Ranji numbers suggest, Sarfaraz should walk into the DC XI for the next few games.
Did Rohit Sharma’s death overs decision cost Mumbai the game?
With Delhi Capitals in cruise mode and Mumbai Indians looking to limit damage, a call from Rohit Sharma in the death overs backfired spectacularly. Even with Jasprit Bumrah, who was having an off day, and Tymal Mills having an over apiece, Rohit went to Daniel Sams for the 18th over of the innings.
Delhi needed 28 runs off three overs at this stage of the innings. Bumrah’s go-to over is the 19th over of the innings in run chases. He has bowled 138 balls in the 19th over in run chases in IPL history, conceding runs at a very good death over economy rate of 8.65, while taking 11 wickets. Did that prompt Rohit to hold Bumrah back for the customary 19th over?
Sams’ death overs economy rate in T20s is above 10 runs per over while Mills and Bumrah have economy rates of 7.78 and 8.24 respectively, among the best, in this phase since 2020. Despite Bumrah’s off day, a death overs specialist like him should have been used ahead of Sams given the game situation.
What made Faf-Kohli beat the odds?
Faf Du Plessis and Virat Kohli while batting for Royal Challengers Bangalore. Image: Sportzpics for IPL
A perennial issue for Royal Challengers Bangalore has been their dismal scoring rate in the middle overs, particularly against spinners. In the last two IPL seasons, RCB’s scoring rate in the middle overs is less than seven runs per over, the worst among all eight teams.
Compounding the issues this time was the odd pairing of Faf du Plessis and Virat Kohli, players who are really good against pace but struggle to go big against spin. In the last IPL season, Kohli and Du Plessis had strike rates in the range of 100-110 against spin while averaging above 49 and 35 respectively, indicating that the duo prefers playing out overs of spin.
On Sunday, batting together in the middle overs, Punjab Kings offered the duo a lifeline by offering the part-time spin of Liam Livingstone and Odean Smith’s extra pace after a decent start to the middle overs from Rahul Chahar and Harpreet Brar.
Du Plessis and Kohli capitalised on this as the RCB duo took apart everything from thereon, showing remarkable intent — stepping out to spinners was a regular feature of the partnership in the middle overs — and finishing the middle overs with a team scoring rate of over 11 runs per over. Against the spinners, Du Plessis scored 40 off 26 balls, while Kohli made 27 off 19 balls.
Did RCB show how to best use Dinesh Karthik?
Dinesh Karthik lit up the stage on his return to RCB, smashing a valuable 32 not out in 14 balls. While it came in a losing cause, RCB might have hit the hammer on the head when it comes to getting the best out of the experienced wicket-keeper batter.
Since the start of 2020 in the IPL, Karthik has been striking at a rate of 160.6 in the death overs and 106.1 in the middle overs. However, he has almost faced the same number of balls in the middle overs as in the death with KKR consistently using him up the order rather than at the death. Karthik’s poor strike rate in the middle overs is complemented by a shocking average of 10.69, with nine of his 13 dismissals (seven of which were to leg-spinners) coming against spin.
Here, RCB stumbled upon the perfect entry point for Karthik, something they will need to stick by through the season even if they lose a couple of early wickets, unlike against PBKS.
Odean Smith or Bhanuka Rajapaksa? Who should make way when Jonny Bairstow returns?
Punjab Kings were served well by their two left-field overseas picks, Odean Smith and Bhanuka Rajapaksa. While the Sri Lankan made a brilliant 22-ball 43 from No.3, taking down countryman Wanindu Hasaranga (22 off 11 balls), Odean Smith smashed the RCB bowlers to smithereens in the death with his 8-ball 25 cameo.
With Jonny Bairstow and Kagiso Rabada expected to join Punjab Kings soon, one of these two players will have to make way. Odean adds an x-factor with his incredible power but is unreliable with the ball as he showed against RCB in a four-over spell that went for 52 runs.
Bhanuka, on the other hand, is a left-hander who can score quickly against spin in the middle overs. Shikhar Dhawan is the only left-hander other than Bhanuka in Punjab’s top seven. This makes the Sri Lankan a good option to have in the middle overs, but it would dent Punjab’s bowling options unless they decide to give Raj Bawa his entire four overs. Or, they could play Rishi Dhawan as the all-rounder to balance the side and play Bhanuka in the middle-order.
If they are to continue playing Odean, who will likely be the preferred choice after his match-winning heist, Bairstow will slot in for Bhanuka with Atharva Taide or Raj Bawa slotting in the middle-order as left-hand options.
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