Royal Challengers Bangalore fans had probably predicted a win for their side after they had posted 205/2 against Punjab Kings at the DY Patil Stadium. After all, the Bangalore bowling attack – Mohammed Siraj, Harshal Patel, David Willey, Wanindu Hasaranga – was a formidable T20 unit by any standards.
True, there was dew and Punjab had power hitters, but surely 206 was going to be enough?
Punjab Kings chased down a 206 run target against Royal Challengers Bangalore with an over to spare. Image: Sportzpics
As things transpired, Punjab cruised home with an over to spare. One may point out that the Bangalore bowlers bowled 12 wides (which, including the runs scored off them, amounted to 21 runs). If Punjab’s nine wides (12 runs) were bad, this was definitely worse.
But even if one takes into account the nine extra runs conceded by wides, that does not entirely explain the one-over margin in a match where the run rates for both sides was significantly more than nine runs an over.
Bangalore began cautiously, perhaps too cautiously. They scored 41/0 in the Powerplay – a number buoyed by the 12 extras Punjab bowled in these overs. Faf du Plessis faced 19 balls in this phase and scored 10 runs. Even after Anuj Rawat fell, du Plessis continued, and managed only 23 from his first 34 balls.
Then he exploded in a flurry of sixes, smashing 65 from his next 23 balls in a display of incredible hitting. Virat Kohli hit two sixes as well, in his 29-ball unbeaten 41, while Dinesh Karthik played some delightful strokes.
But did that make up for the sluggish start?
Bangalore’s 205/2 looked impressive, but they included 23 extras. One must remember that they got these runs against arguably the weakest attack of IPL 2022. With no Kagiso Rabada, Punjab’s attack – Sandeep Sharma, Arshdeep Singh, Rahul Chahar, Harpreet Brar, Odean Smith – features some exceptional talents but not many who can restrain a rampant du Plessis or Kohli.
Add to that the flat pitch, and one cannot help but ask why du Plessis delayed his onslaught for so long, or why Kohli did not take enough risks even as overs ran out and plenty of wickets remained.
Between them, Bangalore’s top three – Rawat, du Plessis, and Kohli – scored 150 runs in 106 balls. In other words, they consumed 88% of the total balls Bangalore faced, at a combined strike rate of 142.
These numbers are perhaps ideal on a pitch where 170 is a par score, but – as things turned out – not on a flat pitch against a weak bowling attack.
Contrast this with the approach of Punjab’s top four later in the night. None of Mayank Agarwal, Shikhar Dhawan, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, and Liam Livingstone made it to 30 balls. However, between them, they smashed 137 in 85 balls, consuming 71% resources while scoring at 161.
In the Powerplay overs, Dhawan and Agarwal scored 63/0 – 22 runs more than what Bangalore did. After nine overs, Bangalore had managed 57/1 and Punjab 84/1. It is never easy to erase a 27-run deficit with 11 overs remaining. Despite the late onslaught, Bangalore never made it.
In other words, the Bangalore top three wanted to keep wickets intact, delaying the risk-taking. Punjab, on the other hand, attacked from the word go despite being up against a superior bowling attack.
Punjab’s triumph was not a one-off instance. To understand this, we need to look at one of the basic principles of batting in T20 cricket.
In cricket’s early days, there was only one way to end an innings, by bowling them out (declarations came later). When limited-overs cricket first arrived, batting sides almost always kept wickets in hand before launching an onslaught in the “slog overs”.
This made sense, because in fifty-over cricket, you are – on an average – allowed to lose a wicket every five overs. Wickets, while not the sole important factor, were still very important. T20 changed this equation, for even if a side lost a wicket every 12 balls, it would still mean they would exhaust both resources – runs and wickets – at the same time.
While batting first (in other words, “batting blind”) in Men’s ODIs, the 12 Full Member sides have lost nine wickets in 42% of their innings, and have been bowled out 27% times. In Men’s T20Is, these numbers drop to 18% and 10%. The chance of getting bowled out in T20s is, thus, very low.
Even if one assumes that only eight batters in an XI are bona-fide hitters, they can still afford to lose a wicket every 15 balls. Thus, if, on a flat pitch against a weak bowling attack, a batter plays an innings substantially longer than 12 balls (15, if one assumes eight hitters) without scoring at a rapid rate, the innings is seldom beneficial to the team’s cause on a flat wicket.
The change in approach made the difference between the two sides on Sunday night. The Bangalore batters focused on keeping the onslaught until very late, despite running out of balls while having a surplus in wickets. Punjab, on the other hand, balanced their resources better, not hesitating to risk wickets if that meant increasing the probability of scoring quicker.
Abhishek Mukherjee is the Chief Editor at CricketNews and co-author of Sachin and Azhar at Cape Town.
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