Keeping the middle in order
Batsmen who can get quick runs while preserving the wicket in middle overs are key even in T20 cricket. Here’s why
LONDON: Even in T20 cricket where hitting and hitting harder is the consistent theme, the graph on batting flourish will usually peak at the start and again towards the end. The middle phase of the innings is when consolidation and high tempo need to be balanced.
In ODI cricket, the middle overs are a tussle between setting up the death hitting and scoring briskly with little risk. In T20, the general principle is the same, with teams mindful that keeping wickets at the death is still a crucial weapon. Teams though are increasingly under pressure to score quickly through the middle as well, often against high quality spin.
With that in mind, who are the best middle-overs batsmen in IPL? We’ve looked at all 35 batsmen to face 150-plus balls in IPL middle overs in the last two seasons. For the purpose of analysis, overs 7-15 have been defined as the mid-phase.
Fast scoring, as opposed to wicket preservation, is the more important element of middleovers batting in T20s. As such, the players who do it best are the more recognisably elite performers. In the last two seasons, the quickest middle-overs scorer in IPL is Nicholas Pooran. The Trinidadian has scored at a remarkable 10.1 runs per over (rpo) in the middle overs in the last two seasons. He was particularly impressive in
IPL 2020.
Mayank Agarwal, who has rocketed at 9.9 rpo in the same
Kings XI Punjab
(now Punjab
Kings) side as
Pooran, comes second in terms of scoring rate in this phase. Close behind Agarwal are the Rajasthan Royals duo Jos Buttler and Sanju Samson, who have scored at 9.4 rpo and 9.3 rpo respectively.
Samson also takes the crown as the quickest batsman against pace in this period of the game, going at 10.4rpo, just ahead of Quinton de Kock with 10.2rpo. However, the middle overs are generally associated with spin bowling and so those who can score fastest against spin tend to receive greater plaudits.
Agarwal tops the table in this regard, going at 10.4rpo, with Pooran unsurprisingly on his tail with 10.3rpo. An interesting side note is that Delhi Capitals opener Prithvi Shaw, who has fallen out of fashion after a poor winter in international colours, ranks third for scoring against spin, at an impressive 9.9rpo in the last two seasons.
The other element of batting in the middle overs is wicket preservation. The highest dismissal rate (balls-per-wicket) in this phase belongs to MS Dhoni, dismissed only once every 72 balls faced in this phase for the last two seasons. Coming in second is Marcus Stoinis, with 45 balls-per-wicket, level with Steve Smith. While neither Australian batsman has scored quickly in the middle overs, they are still markedly quicker than Dhoni, who scored at only 5.7 rpo in the middle overs compared to Smith’s 7.2 rpo and Stoinis’ 7.6 rpo.
While the ability to stay at the crease is crucial, when it comes at the behest of scoring—as it does, to varying extents, for all three of these players—then the balance has been lost. None of these players, despite topping the rankings in this classic measure, could be seriously considered an elite IPL batsman in this phase.
At CricViz, we have a measure which tries to take in the whole picture, and judge a player in his entirety. Batting Impact looks at the effect a batsman has on the team’s total, above or below what we’d expect the average batsman to do in the same matches. Positive is good; negative is bad. According to Batting Impact, the best middle-overs batsman in IPL over the last two seasons is Buttler, recording an Average Batting Impact of plus 8.6. Buttler is also rated the second best batsman in the Powerplay phase. Just behind Buttler, and perhaps more recognisably a ‘middle overs’ batsman, is Nicholas Pooran, whose Average Batting Impact in the last two seasons has been plus 6.8. In third, you have Buttler’s England colleague Jonny Bairstow, with plus 3.8 batting for Sunrisers Hyderabad.
In all but the most cautious batting line-up, you want your middle-order batsmen to be the most effective attacking batsmen available. Buttler, Pooran and Bairstow all offer this. The two Englishmen though are often getting an advantage in their middle-overs performance, having batted at the top of the order and thus being ‘set’ by the time the field goes back. More often than not, Pooran arrives at the crease with the middle overs well under way. So, his dominance of the phase is all the more impressive.