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Despite all the data suggesting length deliveries have more margin for error at the death, the yorker remains the go-to option for most teams

Matt Roller08-May-20233:37

Moody, Dasgupta question Royals’ “baffling” tactics

In T20 cricket, the yorker is a win-or-bust delivery. When landed, it is the hardest delivery for any batter to hit; when missed, it is one of the easiest.In IPL 2023, successful yorkers by seamers at the death have cost 6.2 runs per over, according to ESPNcricinfo’s data. But slot balls and full tosses by seamers at the death have both cost 13.1 runs per over – and even the best yorker bowlers in the league miss more than they hit.On Sunday night in Jaipur, Rajasthan Royals were on the cusp of ending a run of four defeats in five games; a run which has seen them slip from pace-setters to mere play-off contenders. But Jos Buttler was back in the runs, Yuzvendra Chahal among the wickets, and fans dressed in pink considered slipping off early to beat the traffic, with the points in the bag.Related

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With 12 balls left, Sunrisers Hyderabad needed 41 to win. At the crease were Abdul Samad, a 21-year-old who is still learning how to play the format’s most difficult role, and Glenn Phillips, playing his second game of the season and his first since April 2. They had faced three balls between them.This should have been an easy game to close out. Sandeep Sharma, their leading death bowler this season, had an over left. So did Obed McCoy, who had bizarrely bowled a solitary over since being brought into the game as an Impact Player two-thirds of the way through the run chase.Yet, Sanju Samson saw things differently: he threw the ball to Kuldip Yadav, who had bowled tidily but has played precious little senior cricket, let alone in such a high-stakes role. Sunrisers’ batting coach Hemang Badani later said he “found it a wee bit surprising that they went towards Kuldip, and not to McCoy”.Royals have used their Impact Player differently from every other IPL team this season. Regardless of what happens at the toss, they name a starting XI with six frontline batters and five frontline bowlers. They have sacrificed depth when they bat first and limited their options when they bowl first.Perhaps they have seen something that nobody else has, but the results suggest otherwise. With Trent Boult unavailable because of a niggle, they named McCoy, Jason Holder and Adam Zampa among their substitutes on Sunday night, who bowled a single over between them while their uncapped domestic bowlers went around the park.ESPNcricinfo LtdAs he prepared to bowl the penultimate over, Kuldip’s plan was simple: land his yorkers. But in the closing moments of any T20 match, let alone an IPL game that your side desperately needs to win, simple things can become difficult. He missed his first yorker, which Phillips sent back over his head for six; he missed his second, and Phillips duly obliged once more.Now, Kuldip’s faith in his yorker was gone. He went for a slower ball, into the pitch, which disappeared into the stands over midwicket. After a chat with Samson, who ran from behind the stumps to put his arm around him, Kuldip bowled a wide, good-length ball, and Phillips was running hot: his outside edge skewed away past short third for four.The next ball, Kuldip struck. He hit a good length, angling the ball across Phillips, and his miscue looped up into the covers, where Hetmyer took a steepling chance, running back. His final ball, another overpitched yorker, was chipped for two by Marco Jansen.It was an over straight out of Kuldip’s nightmares. Plenty of young bowlers in the IPL must have woken up in cold sweats over the last month after watching Yash Dayal’s experience at the death against Rinku Singh, but with 17 still needed off the final over and Phillips out, Royals were at least still ahead of the game.Sandeep, as he has throughout this season, backed his yorker. Bowling from around the wicket with a slingy release, he has a decent margin for error; even his full tosses and slot balls can be hard to pick. He went wide and full with his first ball, which Samad top edged to short third; somehow, McCoy failed even to get a hand on the relatively comfortable chance.His second ball encapsulated how fine the margins are in this brutal format. His yorker was near-perfect, but just short enough for Samad to get underneath it. Samad swung it down the ground towards Joe Root at long-on, who leapt at full stretch but could only palm it over the rope.Sandeep Sharma’s over-step proved costly for Royals•BCCISandeep’s next three balls? Yorker, low full toss, low full toss. His yorker was squeezed out for two, just about the best result that Samad could have hoped for, and the full tosses were both low enough that they were toe-ended out to the deep. The game was back in Royals’ control, with five needed off the final ball.Once again, this wide-yorker attempt was near-perfect. Samad tried to get underneath it, powering the ball down the ground, but could only find Buttler at long-off. Sandeep closed his eyes, grinned, and pointed to the sky – then heard the no-ball siren. Near-perfect, but not.There was no way that Sandeep’s plan would change, and Samad knew it. This time, Sandeep missed the yorker on the short side, and by the time he had let the ball go, Samad had stepped so far across to the off side that his off stump was visible behind his pads. Down on one knee, he muscled Sandeep back over his head for six.At the death, balls that pitch on a good length, or just shorter, have more margin for error than yorkers. The data suggests that there is a much smaller chance that they will yield a wicket or a dot, but they also have less chance of being hit for six. There is nothing sexy about hitting a hard length at the death – no scope for shattered stumps or crushed bootcaps, but perhaps it is a better option than conventional wisdom suggests.And yet, even with T20 cricket several years into its data age, the yorker remains the go-to option for the vast majority of teams. It is a win-or-bust ball – but Royals have forgotten how to win.

After record-breaking Lions knock, Smith is hoping to push for higher recognition

Matt Roller07-Mar-2023For the last decade, England have been blessed with an abundance of wicketkeeper-batters. Jos Buttler has over 300 international caps, while Jonny Bairstow has 250. Ben Foakes is the incumbent in the Test team, and Sam Billings has spent much of his career as the world’s most overqualified 12th man.Collectively, their stock is high. Buttler is England’s white-ball captain, and one of the best T20 batters in the world; Bairstow was the standout Test player of 2022; Foakes is generally considered one of the best pure wicketkeepers in the world; Billings has slipped down England’s pecking order, but his services remain in high demand on the franchise circuit.Foakes, the youngest of the four, turned 30 last month, a landmark birthday which prompted some deliberation. At some stage in the not-too-distant future, England will need to replace this golden generation of wicketkeepers. Most of the options in their mid-20s are either predominantly batters – think Ollie Pope and Ben Duckett – or have a clear preference for the white-ball game, like Joe Clarke and Phil Salt.You do not have to look far to find the long-term solution. At 22, Jamie Smith has already spent two winters on tour with the England Lions; last month, he blazed the fastest-ever hundred by a Lions batter in a four-day game, taking 71 balls to reach his century against Sri Lanka in Galle.Related

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It was a statement innings – and word travelled quickly throughout the English game. Smith spent some time around the Test squad during the Lions’ pre-Christmas training camp in the UAE and his admirers include Rob Key. Ben Stokes has taken notice, too: “Jamie Smith is someone who’s been talked about a lot,” he said before the first Test in New Zealand.His record-breaking innings encapsulated the extent to which England’s style and philosophy under Stokes and Brendon McCullum has quickly disseminated through the English game. “Being in an environment where he’s been able to go out and express himself, and feel confident enough to go and do that, you see the performances coming,” Stokes said. “It’s great to see that filtering from us at the top, down to the Lions – and hopefully into county cricket as well.”Smith started his innings slowly from No. 5, reaching 10 off 19 balls as the Lions responded to Sri Lanka A’s 332 all out. At the drinks break, he spoke to Alex Lees, unbeaten on 58 off 59 balls and the senior player in the side. “I said to him: ‘I don’t feel like I can take them on here,'” Smith recalls. “‘I don’t really feel like I’m set.'”He just said: ‘You definitely can. Back yourself, be positive.'” Three balls later, Smith slog-swept Lasith Embuldeniya – one of four members of Sri Lanka’s attack with a Test cap – over midwicket for six. “From there, I was just like a different person,” he says. At stumps, he had reached 86 off 56 balls; he was eventually dismissed for 126 off 82 the following morning.”Jamie, for a young English player, has a fantastic technique against spin,” Ian Bell, the Lions’ batting coach, says. “When we see world-class players like Joe Root, with his footwork, it’s about getting forward and back, and picking length very quickly. He does that.”He’s got a very good, solid defence against spin. But also, he has the ability to take people down as well – and we saw that in his hundred. He could flick a switch, hit over the top, sweep, and go to another gear. When you’re looking at the way the England Test side are playing at the moment, I would have thought that fits very nicely, in terms of how he puts pressure back on bowlers.”

[Smith] did himself no harm at all with what he achieved for the Lions. For all these guys, it’s about going back and dominating county cricketIan Bell

Six months ago, Smith did not anticipate spending the winter overseas with the Lions. “I had a poor year with the bat,” he reflects. “I didn’t have the stats on the board to warrant being included. I’m very thankful for that backing and that definitely did give me a slight boost. Come that first week in October, I was pretty low on confidence.”Smith’s third Championship innings of 2022 was an unbeaten 234 against Gloucestershire, but he managed only 121 more in his next eight innings, even as Surrey won the title. In the T20 Blast, he batted as low as No. 9 when Surrey had their full complement of star names available, and he spent August running drinks for London Spirit rather than playing in the One-Day Cup.But a conversation with Mo Bobat, the ECB’s performance director, at Loughborough before flying to the UAE “gave me a massive confidence boost going into the winter”, Smith says, tripping over himself to remain modest: “We just chatted a few things through about where they sort of saw me – and how much, maybe, they do sort of believe in me, a little bit.”England see him as a natural fit to their new style, and Smith found the training camp had a liberating effect on his batting. “I’ve always been a person who likes to take the positive option,” he says. “I felt like last year, back in the county system, I probably lost that. I didn’t put bowlers under anywhere near the amount of pressure that I know I can and have the ability to – especially against spin.”I’ve always felt like I want to be very proactive against spin, hitting over the top. Last year, I’d lost that completely; lost that intent. I don’t know why, if it’s a lack of confidence, but when you’re not scoring runs, it seems to be the first thing you do: to protect your wicket a bit more. It was a turning point for me in Dubai, having that freedom. Luckily, that came back and I was really able to show what I could do.”In particular, he feels as though he benefitted from “clear messaging” which enabled him to stop worrying about his technique and focus on his strengths. “You’re just not worried about what your feet are doing, what your hands are doing. You’re watching the ball, and looking to put pressure back on bowlers. That simplicity really helps me.England present and England future? Smith and Ben Foakes are team-mates at Surrey•Getty Images”When I do inevitably get a few low scores during the summer – as everyone does – I feel like I can just go back to the real simplistic approach of just watching the ball, having fun, trusting myself. I think that was the main thing: knowing you have the confidence of an innings like that in the bank, where you can always look and think, you know what? I can do it.”Smith’s progression has been a familiar story in English cricket: he was educated at Whitgift School, and first played for Surrey’s age-group teams aged 10. But even those players with the most traditional backgrounds have had to look at things differently in the Stokes-McCullum era.”You always used to be taught that to score a hundred, you need to face 200 balls,” he says. “But it doesn’t have to be like that. The way the England guys are playing is definitely inspiring people not to set their own ceilings.”At this stage, Smith is seen as a long-term investment by the ECB – but a strong start to the Championship season could see him pushing for Test selection as a specialist batter before long. Bell cites the case of Harry Brook, who he worked with at Hobart Hurricanes just over a year ago. Brook averaged 6.28 in the 2021-22 Big Bash; now, he is England’s best young batter across formats.”Harry is a great example: it’s amazing how quickly things can change,” Bell says. “Jamie looking at that can think, ‘actually, if I do start well for Surrey, then it’s not a million miles away.’ He did himself no harm at all with what he achieved for the Lions. For all these guys, it’s about going back and dominating county cricket; he’s in a fantastic place to do that.”Of England selection, Smith says: “It’s why you play the game, isn’t it? Everyone wants to play for England. Just to be having your name thrown around with some of those people is a bit ridiculous at times but it’s something to strive for. The main thing is just enjoying playing. Being out there in Sri Lanka definitely brought that enjoyment, and hopefully I can take that into the English summer.”You never know. You’re always closer than you feel you are. A couple of good summers or whatever, and you push your name right in the frame. But I’ve just got to keep working hard on all aspects of my game. You never know how far it can take you.”His first task will be securing his spot in Surrey’s team. Hashim Amla has retired but Dom Sibley is back after a spell at Warwickshire, and as defending champions, they have a strong, deep squad. For Smith, that has occasionally meant running the drinks or playing for the seconds.But he insists: “I don’t see it as a detriment anymore. For example, if Popey [Ollie Pope] is lucky enough to be picked in the Ashes – which I’m sure he will – there’s a chance for some games there to put your hand up, and go and score his runs. Which won’t be easy, because he scores a lot of them – but why can’t you?”That question has informed much of England’s thinking in the last nine months, shifting the focus from what players can’t do to what they can. As Smith showed in Sri Lanka, he can do almost anything.

Shanaka is no one’s idea of a world-class bowler but he makes it work against Bangladesh with his 3 for 28

Andrew Fidel Fernando10-Sep-20231:51

Maharoof: Shanaka brings balance to the team when he bowls

When your last seven scores are 5, 14*, 1, 5, 0, 5 and 1, these things tend to happen. Like a man rifling frantically through all his pockets for a misplaced key, Dasun Shanaka is reaching for deliveries he doesn’t usually reach for, lunging when he doesn’t usually lunge, and mis-hitting almost every shot in an anxious 32-ball 24 that sets Sri Lanka on track for another fizzling finish.It has been almost nine months since Shanaka struck 108 not out off 88 against India in Guwahati. Since then, he has played 14 ODI innings, averaged 10.69, and struck at a truly abysmal 73.15.Such has been the extent of his batting misery, and so desperate a figure does he cut with bat in hand, you wonder if he thinks he will ever find his old self again. Whether he still believes the thing big-hitting batters such as himself are supposed to believe: that the shot that thumps him back into rhythm – like an old TV screen that comes right when you hit it hard enough – is just around the corner.Related

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But this is not your run-of-the-mill plunge into despair. There are other statistics. Under Shanaka’s leadership, Sri Lanka have now won 13 consecutive ODIs, something only the greatest ODI team of all time has ever done before. They’ve bowled out their opposition in all 13 of those matches, despite their best fast bowler – Dushmantha Chameera – having been injured for most of that run. Wanindu Hasaranga has played no part in their three Asia Cup victories so far. Promising left-armer Dilshan Madushanka has not been available in this tournament either.There are huge caveats to these numbers, of course. Of the teams playing in this year’s World Cup, Sri Lanka have defeated only Afghanistan (three times), Bangladesh (twice), and Netherlands (twice) during this stretch. None of these sides are what you would call long-standing cricketing powers. But still, Sri Lanka have won 22 matches and lost only 13 under Shanaka. In ODIs since 2016 in which he was not captain, Sri Lanka won just 28 and lost 63.A quick vibe check, as we can’t be all about numbers: it doesn’t feel as depressing to be a follower of Sri Lankan cricket since Shanaka took over the white-ball teams. Even if he himself barely looks like he can hold a bat right now.What Shanaka can do, however, is contribute with the ball. It is, by a distance, his second skill. Maybe even his third, given his fielding in the circle is routinely outstanding. On Saturday, having seen Bangladesh’s batters go after Maheesh Theekshana early, and sensing that perhaps this was a plan they had hatched, Shanaka brought himself on to bowl the fourth over and, however gentle his pace, began making the ball curve late enough through the air to trouble batters.He raised a mild lbw appeal in his first over, conceded just five runs across his next three overs, and eventually created the pressure that yielded two wickets. Mehidy Hasan Miraz pulled a shortish ball straight to midwicket. Mohammad Naim top-edged what in Shanaka’s world is a bouncer, which eventually settled in the gloves of the wicketkeeper. By the end of his first spell, Shanaka had given away 15 from six overs. It was, in effect, a tone-setting effort.Dasun Shanaka dismissed Bangladesh’s openers in his back-to-back overs•Associated PressBangladesh never truly recovered from these six overs, delivered by a captain who does not usually operate in the early stages of an innings but, perhaps because so much else was going wrong for him, felt he needed to find responsibilities elsewhere.Shanaka is no one’s idea of a world-class bowler. Just as Sri Lanka is no one’s idea of a world-class ODI team, at present. But together, for now, they are making it work. Kind of. In their previous win, against Afghanistan, they had kind of tumbled into like a drunk crashing into a soft haystack.And his problems will persist beyond this match. There are lots of things a captain can’t really do when they’re in this much of a personal chasm. They can’t comfortably make the kinds of tough selection calls on match day that are sometimes required. They can’t twist arms and draft players that are not on the selectors’ radar. They can’t talk tough within the team, and certainly not in public. They can’t take strong stands, which is a thing you often need to do when your board is Sri Lanka Cricket.You suspect Shanaka is not a natural arm-twister/tough talker/stand-taker anyway. But in men’s elite sport, which even in 2023 rewards the more brusque expressions of masculinity, it would be nice to have the option of being a generalissimo, even just occasionally.That ODIs have been Sri Lanka’s worst format since their batting Valar (TM Dilshan, Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardana etc) retired is pretty well understood. But right now, it feels like a side that is spinning like a top – beautiful in its current motion, but susceptible to collapsing with the lightest gust, a glancing touch of a finger.Shanaka is at least partly responsible for this revival. On Saturday, his batting failed again. But he took 3 for 28 from nine overs, and led Sri Lanka to another victory.

Hardik taking over from Rohit Sharma as Mumbai Indians captain wasn’t a surprise, but speed with which things moved was unexpected

Nagraj Gollapudi16-Dec-20238:59

Jaffer: Surprised that Mumbai Indians moved on from Rohit so quickly

When Mumbai Indians pulled off the coup of bringing back Hardik Pandya from Gujarat Titans during the IPL trading window, their big plan was clear.It wasn’t a surprise that Hardik was named captain for the 2024 season, replacing Rohit Sharma, the most successful leader in the history of the IPL along with MS Dhoni. What was a surprise, though, is how quickly it happened, a mere 20 days after Hardik was unveiled as a Mumbai Indian again.The question, then, was whether Rohit himself was surprised by the pace of change, just over three months before the 2024 season starts.Related

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It has been learned that Rohit was informed by the franchise about Hardik’s impending return immediately after IPL 2023, where Mumbai Indians made the playoffs, after two dismal seasons in 2021 and 2022, but finished fourth. Rohit’s captaincy was not the concern for the owners and team management led by Mahela Jayawardene. If there was a concern, it was Rohit’s batting stats: in the last two seasons (2022 and 2023) his average hovered around 20.Also, Rohit will turn 37 next April and his age would have been factored into the deliberations to identify and secure a successor to ensure a smooth transition. Mumbai Indians have been fairly unsentimental about transitions in the past. They moved on from Sachin Tendulkar, Ricky Ponting, Harbhajan Singh, Lasith Malinga and Kieron Pollard – all pillars of their IPL legacy – and found ways to keep them involved with the team wherever possible. Even John Wright, who coached them to the title in 2013, was moved to a behind-the-scenes scouting role fairly swiftly, with tremendous results. Mumbai Indians’ leadership group, which is led directly by the owners, ensured that each of these decisions was handled efficiently.While some might have thought Hardik would take over the captaincy just before or during the 2024 season, Mumbai perhaps wanted to avoid the scenario when Rohit was suddenly elevated to captaincy in 2013. Ponting, who was bought by Mumbai Indians at the auction for US$400,000 and appointed captain, stepped down after six matches, having scored just 52 runs. When Ponting became mentor, and soon head coach of Mumbai Indians, he guided Rohit in his early years of captaincy, playing a role in the title wins in 2013 and 2015.They are all together again•Mumbai IndiansCommunication and tactical acumen did the trick for RohitOne of the things that worked for Rohit at Mumbai Indians was his ability to extract the best from his players. His team-mates credit Rohit for giving them confidence and security so they could perform at the best – at the IPL or for India. That is a result of Rohit being a people’s person – his communication style is simple and uncomplicated, allowing him to understand his players better. And he has utilised that along with his tactical acumen to execute his plans in high-pressure moments.Rohit was the first captain to win five IPL titles. The first two came when they beat their greatest rivals Chennai Super Kings in the 2013 and 2015 finals. In 2017, they squeezed past Rising Pune Supergiant by one run to claim their third trophy, and then Rohit emulated MS Dhoni by becoming only the second captain to successfully defend the IPL title, winning in 2019 and 2020.Of course, Rohit has had a surplus of matchwinners in his teams: Pollard, Malinga, Harbhajan, Jasprit Bumrah, Suryakumar Yadav and Hardik, in the main. But in 2015, when they climbed to the summit after lying at the bottom of the table for the first two weeks, Rohit learned the value of collective effort. Since then, his players have trusted his word and plans, which more often than not have worked well.Now relieved of captaincy at Mumbai Indians, Rohit can pursue that “ultimate prize” – a global title – he so emotively spoke about earlier this week. Since the 2019 ODI World Cup, where he was the tournament’s leading run-scorer, Rohit has fervently chased the ambition of winning an ICC trophy. He got three shots at it as captain – the 2022 T20 World Cup, the 2023 World Test Championship, and the 2023 ODI World Cup – but fell short each time.It is not yet known whether he will lead India at the 2024 T20 World Cup in June, but relieved of the Mumbai captaincy and playing the IPL as a batter allows Rohit to bat with freedom. There is no doubt that both Rohit and Mumbai Indians, as well as India, would want him to dictate terms in the opening verse of the T20 World Cup – the first six overs – just as he did at the ODI World Cup powerplays. Rohit unshackled is a game changer.Rohit Sharma poses with the five IPL trophies he has won as Mumbai Indians captain•Mumbai IndiansA homecoming and a massive challenge for HardikAs for Rohit’s relationship with Hardik, it has always been strong. It was under Rohit’s captaincy that Hardik made his IPL debut in 2015 and went on to develop into India’s best allrounder. While Hardik has admitted to being a Dhoni admirer, he has enough respect for Rohit too.At Titans, Hardik was the seniormost player with pretty much full control. He could bat where he wanted to and bowl, or not bowl, as he chose, as was the case in the 2023 season when he played as captain and batter.Hardik now returns to a familiar environment – he called it a homecoming – but the challenge will be bigger. Not only will he need to perform on the field, but his primary job will be to ensure his team is one unit and that he has the trust, confidence and respect of the seniors: Rohit, Bumrah and Suryakumar. Those last two, Hardik will be aware, harboured leadership dreams too. He could be challenged on and off the field.Mumbai have not won the IPL trophy for three seasons. This leadership change suggests that the management and the owners are now impatient for another title-winning run. As captain of one of the most high-profile IPL teams, the pressure on Hardik will be high. And then there’s the priority of staying fit to play the T20 World Cup for India, and possibly captain the national side in the future.The challenge for Mumbai will be to ensure Rohit and Hardik join hands in the short term and lay the groundwork for long-term gains.

Australia have now won 20 of their last 22 ODIs against West Indies at home

Sampath Bandarupalli06-Feb-2024186 Balls bowled in Canberra are the sixth-fewest for any completed men’s ODI and the fewest-ever for an ODI hosted by Australia (excluding overs-reduced matches). The previous shortest completed ODI in Australia lasted 199 balls, also played between Australia and West Indies, in 2013 in Perth.1 Xavier Bartlett is now the first Australian to bag four or more wickets in each of their first two ODIs. Only five players before Bartlett achieved this feat of claiming four-plus wicket hauls in their first two ODIs – Curtly Ambrose, Adam Hollioake, Brian Vitori, Mustafizur Rahman and Hamza Tahir.259 Balls remaining when Australia reached their target of 87 runs. It is the seventh biggest win in men’s ODIs in terms of balls remaining for any team and the biggest for Australia, bettering their win by 254 balls against USA in the 2004 Champions Trophy.Related

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1 The defeat by 259 balls is also the biggest for West Indies in men’s ODIs. Their previous biggest defeat was by 244 balls, also by Australia, who needed 9.1 overs to chase 71 in the 2013 Perth ODI.22 Consecutive men’s ODIs without a win for West Indies against Australia in Australia. Their last ODI win down under against Australia came way back in January 1997. Australia won 20 of their previous 22 home ODIs against West Indies, while another two ended without a result.12 Consecutive wins for Australia in ODI format, a streak that began during their victorious World Cup campaign. It is the joint-third longest winning streak for any team in the men’s ODI cricket.Australia won a record 21 successive ODIs in 2003, while Sri Lanka won 13 on the trot between June and September last year.86 West Indies’ total in Canberra is their fifth-lowest total in men’s ODIs and their second-lowest against Australia, behind the 70 all-out in Perth in 2013.3.4 Overs needed for Australia to reach the 50-run mark is the fastest for them in men’s ODIs since 2002. Australia’s previous fastest team 50 in the format was off 3.5 overs against Sri Lanka in 2016 in Dambulla.

Which team has the worst catching rate? Which bowler has missed out on the most wickets? And which batter has lucked out the most? All the key questions: answered

S Rajesh15-Apr-2024There have been plenty of batting and bowling highlights in the first 29 matches of IPL 2024, but in terms of fielding, it hasn’t been a season to remember. There have been some spectacular catches as expected in a league of high-class athletes, but overall the catching has left much to be desired.Of the 360 catching and stumping chances created so far, only 273 have resulted in dismissals. The success rate of 75.83% is the lowest by far in the last five IPL seasons. From a rate of 2.07 drops per match last season, the figure has jumped up to 3.0, an increase of 45%.