Lower-order batting punch turning on the heat in league
KOLKATA: In an ever-evolving format like T20, teams are increasingly wary of self-preservation and dot balls. Batting strategy has undergone sea changes as a result. From starting cautiously and slowly powering up to going all out from the powerplay overs, teams are now more willing to invest in a high-risk, high-reward template West Indies were pioneers of in the early 2010s—batting deep and batting big.
Enter the bowlers who can bat a bit, batters who can chip in with a few overs, basically your erstwhile bits-and-pieces players who are more than a sum of their parts. The target? To add more teeth to the batting, specifically in the area of boundary-hitting, lower down the order so that top-order bats don’t feel any reason to hold back. Some are still warming up to the idea though. Chennai Super Kings are still very much hedging their bets on their topfive batters doing most of the scoring, even if that means tolerating Ruturaj Gaikwad’s single-digit scores and instances of heavy dot-ball wastage.
Shivam Dube, however, provided a glimpse of what could have been for CSK in a crushing 54-run loss to Punjab Kings. His 30-ball 57—that’s a strike rate of 190—came on the heels of the top-five aggregating 27 in 40 balls, serving a reminder that one innings of difference at the top and the chase could have taken on a different complexion.
Equally promising was the 14-ball 40 (285.71 strike rate) by Washington Sundar at No 8 in Sunrisers Hyderabad’s 61-run loss to Rajasthan Royals, a match where their top-four had scored 11 runs in 38 balls.
In white-ball cricket, a team’s finish hinges critically on the timing of the entry of their most impactful batters. Ideally, you want them in by the 14th-16th over, not very early and definitely not later, so that they get the optimal amount of time to launch into slog mode. It’s a delicate balancing act most teams are striving to perfect as a fair bit of luck is involved. Consider, for example, Delhi Capitals’ chase of Mumbai Indians’ 177 last month. When Axar Patel came at No 8, the Capitals needed 74 from 40. But Patel stunned Mumbai with a 17-ball 38, laced with three sixes and two fours. “At the back of our minds, with us losing wickets, we felt it was gone,” Capitals captain Rishabh Pant said later. “But we kept believing. We tried to focus on controllables.”
First match of their first season, Gujarat Titans had lost four wickets for 78 by the 12th over in pursuit of Lucknow Super Giants’ 158/6. David Miller and Rahul Tewatia took them to 138 before Abhinav Manohar, a batting allrounder picked exactly for these scenarios, came in at No 7. Manohar scored 15 from seven balls as Tewatia anchored Titans’ victory with an unbeaten 40 off 24 balls. Manohar’s innings underscored the importance of scoring quickly on the go, something Odean Smith too achieved by scoring 25 off eight balls against Royal Challengers Bangalore last week. Coming in at No 7 in the 15th over, Smith hit three sixes and one four as he combined with Shahrukh Khan to plunder 52 runs in 25 balls and help Punjab Kings ace a 206-run target with one over to spare. Even Dinesh Karthik’s 7-ball 14 against KKR, entering the fray at No 7 with RCB needing 28 from 24, is worth its weight in gold.
But if there is one person who has come to symbolise this trait of lower-order resurgence, don’t look beyond KKR’S Andre Russell. Right now, he stands on a strike rate of 193, the bulk of which was built on a 31-ball 70 (225.8 strike rate) while successfully chasing Punjab Kings’ 137. With Russell, you get what you see—brute force muscling balls in his arc while not caring much for singles. And when 56 out of 70 runs come in sixes—russell scored eight—and fours, you really stop caring about dots anyway.
This kind of clarity comes with the role. And Russell is one of those who know exactly what they are capable of at No 6. “In that position, I know what I can do,” he said after that game. “It was good to have someone at the crease like Sam (Billings, who was unbeaten on 24 off 23) who can rotate and help us stick through the tough time. I knew we were the two guys who’ll definitely look to get a partnership. So we decided to take charge from one end and look to get singles from the other end.”
To keep scoring quickly despite losing wickets is now a strategy many teams are aligning themselves with. But it seems a better ploy while chasing because you don’t know what a good score is anymore because of the dew factor.
Chennai Super Kings know all about that, losing to LSG despite setting them 211. Punjab Kings too have been inconsistent, getting dismissed for 137 trying to set a high score for KKR and finishing on 180/8 against CSK despite being 109/3 after the 10th over. But it nevertheless seems a tactic worth exploring considering the batting depth some franchises have bought.