Ten odd statistics from the IPL 2023, some of which are recent and some of more significance
XII times nine
Chennai Super Kings stuck to the same XI(I) despite the Impact Player rule allowing leaders to experiment with their squad during the current season. In the IPL 2023, MS Dhoni decided to field the same lineup nine times. Four times, Gujarat Titans drafted the same starting lineup. Five of the 10 teams retained different XII even once.
4 200s in a single day
On April 30, 827 runs were made in the IPL 2023, with four teams—the Mumbai Indians, Punjab Kings, Super Kings, and Rajasthan Royals—scoring 200 or more runs. In the competition’s history, this was the first time something such occurred. Exactly one week later, on May 7, the total of 827 runs was surpassed when the Titans, Lucknow Super Giants, Royals, and Sunrisers Hyderabad combined for 829 runs in two games. May 21, the final day of the league stage, came only four runs shy of the 800-run threshold. These three days rank in the top five regarding the number of double-header games played in the IPL.
A T20 initial
On May 3, Kings and Mumbai squared off in Mohali after each club had given up three consecutive scores of 200 or more. Mumbai bowled first and allowed 214, the first time in IPL 2023 history that a club allowed four consecutive 200-plus totals. They avoided becoming the only team with this questionable record, though. With one over and one ball remaining, they exceeded the goal, becoming Kings, the second IPL 2023 club to let up four consecutive 200-plus totals.
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A 3 to set the record
During their match in Chennai, the Kings achieved yet another milestone. Sikandar Raza scored precisely three runs to end the game with the three required to win on the final ball. A batsman ran three off the last ball in a chase for the victory, at least in the IPL, for the first time. There has never been another occurrence in all T20 matches for which cricketnews has ball-by-ball data.
It takes seven balls to win.
When Sunrisers defeated Royals, Glenn Phillips batted just seven balls and won Player-of-the-Match. Before being caught by Shimron Hetmyer in the outfield, he scored 25 runs. These were the fewest balls any IPL player had ever batted, bowled, or both to earn Player-of-the-Match.
The Ballers’ first shot
Kings had two hitters who might start attacking after the first pitch. In this IPL, Shahrukh Khan made three first-ball sixes. Two times, Jitesh Sharma did it. In the IPL 2023, Nicholas Pooran and Yashasvi Jaiswal each struck a six off the first ball they faced twice. In total, 23 hitters started their innings this season with a six. It represents one in around 49 innings, which is by far the most effective rate in any IPL season.
First-over critics in the IPL
It is one thing for a middle-order hitter to sprint from the starting line but quite another for an opener. In a format where hitters often assess the situation in the first over, Jaiswal promptly dispatched the opposition. In the opening IPL 2023 over, the Royals’ opener hit 110 runs with a strike rate 174.6. That is 14.4% of all runs off the bat, and it was done so with a strike rate that was twice as high as previous innings. Only Adam Gilchrist has scored more runs in a season’s overs.
120 consecutive (repeated) borders
Virat Kohli struck Yash Dayal for three consecutive boundaries in the fourth over of his unbeaten 101 against the Titans. Kohli struck three straight boundaries for the first time in his four IPL seasons. But there were 120 other incidents like this in IPL 2023. No different season has more of these occurrences; IPL 2022 was the following best, with 102 events of hitters hitting boundaries off three or more consecutive balls in an inning. This season, Jaiswal and Suryakumar Yadav had seven such occurrences. Six were in Pooran.
An era of fierce fifties
Against Mumbai, Ajinkya Rahane scored fifty runs in just 19 balls. Against Kolkata Knight Riders, he scored another fifty during the season off just 24 balls. In fewer than 25 balls, Vijay Shankar beat the Knight Riders with both of his fifty scores. These players only sometimes come to mind when considering hitters with strike rates exceeding 200.
That demonstrates how pervasive the frenzied hitting has been this season, and up to 28 hitters had at least one of their fifties in 25 or fewer balls, which is a 12-per cent increase over the previous record of 16 in 2018. More than twice the previous best of 19, also in 2018, there were 40 fifties hit in 25 balls or less in 2023.
A 136-ball inning, a six-ball gift from Mumbai
In their encounter against Super Giants in Chennai, CSK bowled 136 balls, 16 more than they were supposed to. Regarding the number of balls bowled, this is the most extended inning in IPL 2023 history. As far as the extras go, that was an isolated incident for the CSK bowlers, but the Mumbai bowlers have practised it. In the 14 games, on average, they have bowled 86 more balls or one additional over.
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