What does losing the way in the second half look like from a batting team’s perspective? Ask Mumbai Indians. On Tuesday, chasing Lucknow Super Giants’ 177, they finished the Powerplay on 58 for no loss.
At the halfway mark, they needed 86 more with nine wickets to spare. Krunal Pandya was belted for two boundaries in the 11th over and the balance tilted further in MI’s favour. But in the next three overs—bowled by Pandya and Ravi Bishnoi—LSG conceded just
What does losing the way in the second half look like from a batting team’s perspective? Ask Mumbai Indians. On Tuesday, chasing Lucknow Super Giants’ 177, they finished the Powerplay on 58 for no loss.
At the halfway mark, they needed 86 more with nine wickets to spare. Krunal Pandya was belted for two boundaries in the 11th over and the balance tilted further in MI’s favour. But in the next three overs—bowled by Pandya and Ravi Bishnoi—LSG conceded just 12 runs. From that point onwards, MI were playing catch-up till they lost by five runs.
On Sunday, after sussing out the conditions in their backyard, Chennai Super Kings felt batting first against Kolkata Knight Riders was justified. They scored their first fifty runs in 31 balls, but the next 50 came in 46 balls. Between the fifth and the 15th over—one out of those overs were bowled by a pacer—CSK could only score one boundary hit, a six in the 12th over.
Even more staggering was the slowdown in Delhi Capitals’ innings the day before, where they went from raising their first 50 in 28 balls against Punjab Kings to taking 56 balls to score the next fifty. This time too, only one out of the middle overs (7-15) was bowled by a pacer.
This wasn’t how the narrative was supposed to flow though. One of the most fascinating aspects of this format has been the way teams try to innovate and stay ahead of the competition. This IPL season was different in every team trying to make the most of the middle overs. And that meant taking on the spinners more than usual. From hovering around the 7.7 runs per over mark, the average middle overs run rate has jumped to 8.32 this year as a result.
Teams have resorted to batters at different positions to make the middle overs work for them. For Chennai Super Kings for example, it meant giving a free rein to Shivam Dube who has a strike rate of 172.64 against spin this season, hitting almost a fifth of the balls faced for sixes. KKR opener Jason Roy has been another spin basher, hitting 10 sixes in 44 balls with an overall strike rate of 231.81.
With the likes of Sanju Samson (SR of 170.31 against spin) and Glen Maxwell (SR of 170.17 against spin) not letting up on the big shots in the middle overs, spinners have been returning more expensive spells. In fact, 64% of all the runs scored in the middle overs this season have come off the spinners, the highest ever for any IPL season and the polar opposite of how it had started in 2008 where seamers conceded 61% of the runs in overs 7-15.
In the last five matches however, the middle overs run rate has swung wildly, rising to 9.88 when Gujarat Titans batted against Sunrisers Hyderabad and plummeting to 4.44 when CSK were stalled by KKR’s slower bowlers. Only thrice in the last five matches has an innings averaged more than eight runs per over in the middle phase, suggesting it’s becoming harder to score, especially against spinners on pitches that have now had a fair bit of cricket played on them.
Conditions too are weighing in more as the tournament has progressed. After Tuesday’s loss, Mumbai Indians captain Rohit Sharma pointed out how hitting straight would have negated the risk on a slow Lucknow pitch. After losing to KKR at home, MS Dhoni felt dew—which Chennai has rarely had in night games—had made a big difference in the second innings.
A no-holds barred batting approach cost Delhi Capitals six wickets on a Kotla pitch aiding turn. With the pitches wearing out in the last month of the country’s cricket season, this trend is only set to become stronger in the last few matches. Batters may be losing their way a bit after a rousing start to their middle-overs ploy but the bowlers certainly won’t be complaining now.
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