The run-rate in the PowerPlay is at an all-time high of 8.57, well clear of the previous peak of 8.39 of the 2018 edition. This is just the fourth time the run-rate has been in excess of eight in the PowerPlay since the 2008 season and the first since 2019.

As many as 152 sixes have been hit in the first six overs in IPL 2023, at a frequency of 3.30 per match, second to only the 2018 edition (3.75 sixes per match). With the added cushion of an extra batter, courtesy the Impact Player rule, in all probability, teams have been less risk-averse from the get-go. As a result, the average runs scored per wicket in 2023 (34.68) is the second lowest in the last five seasons played in the home and away format.

However, despite IPL 2023 being a pacesetter in terms of scoring rates across T20 tournaments, teams have found success in the PowerPlay to varying degrees.  All numbers are up to date till the SRH vs KKR game on May 4.

Mumbai Indians

Rohit Sharma’s travails with the bat belie the fact that Mumbai Indians enjoys the fourth best PowerPlay run-rate (8.85) in the tournament. Ishan Kishan – with 195 runs at a strike rate of 144.44 – has been the chief contributor for Mumbai in the PowerPlay while Rohit’s approach to take the bowlers on from the word go hasn’t reaped dividends. He has been dismissed seven times in nine innings in the first six overs, while averaging 19.71 and striking at 131.42. Against the backdrop of the Rohit-Kishan opening partnership blowing hot and cold, Cameron Green has stepped up in the No. 3 role. The Aussie all-rounder has averaged 52 in the PowerPlay, and his strike rate of 148.57 has ensured Mumbai doesn’t lag too far behind in maximising the field restrictions.

Punjab Kings

Like Mumbai Indians, Punjab has struck at an identical run-rate of 8.85 in the PowerPlay and has been plagued by a similarly inconsistent opening pair. Shikhar Dhawan and Prabhsimran Singh have cruised at a healthy run-rate of 9.50 as an opening pair, have two partnerships of over 50 but average 25.57. With a strike rate of 152.33, Prabhsimran has been the aggressor while Dhawan has been an accumulator at 135.80. In the absence of Dhawan, who missed three games due to injury, Atharva Taide and Matthew Short have lent able support at No. 3. Short has steadied the innings after the fall of an early wicket on three occasions while striking at 137.17 in the PowerPlay while Taide boasts of a strike rate of 171.42 in the limited opportunities he has got at one-drop.

Rajasthan Royals

The Sanju Samson-led RR leads the charge when it comes to maximising the field restrictions with the highest run-rate (9.55) in the PowerPlay. What is commendable is that it has managed to keep the tempo up while losing just eight wickets (second least during this phase) in the first six overs. Yashasvi Jaiswal has been the key architect for the Royals during this phase, striking at 165.69, while his opening partner Jos Buttler has played second fiddle at a strike rate of 144.24. Jaiswal and Buttler have been the second most prolific opening pair in IPL 2023.

Chennai Super Kings

The four-time champion can boast of a PowerPlay run-rate of 9.51 and a format-agnostic per wicket average of 85.66 thanks to the consistency of openers Devon Conway and Ruturaj Gaikwad. The duo has struck three fifty-plus and one century partnership

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Mumbai Indians were crowned the champions of Dream11 IPL 2020 after they defeated Delhi Capitals in a one-sided match in Dubai on November 10.

Mumbai chased down the 157-run target set by Delhi in 18.4 overs with five wickets in hand to claim their fifth IPL title. MI skipper Rohit Sharma led from the front with a superb half-century (68 runs off 50 balls) while Ishan Kishan remained unbeaten on 33.

The captain had three good partnerships – first a 45-run opening stand with Quinton de Kock followed by another with Suryakumar Yadav, and thirdly a 47-run stand with Ishan Kishan (33 not out).

Earlier, DC won the toss and opted to bat first. It had a bad start, losing Marcus Stoinis in the first ball of the match. Trent Boult (3-30) brought Delhi to 22/3 taking the wickets of Stoinis, Ajinkya Rahane and Shimron Hetmyer.

Skipper Shreyas Iyer (65 off 50) and Rishabh Pant (56 off 38) then had a 96-run third-wicket stand that gave Delhi a fighting total of 156/7.

MI brought in off-spinner Jayant Yadav in place of leg-spinner Rahul Chahar while DC had an unchanged XI. Jayant Yadav took the wicket of Shikhar Dhawan (15 off 13) to strengthen MI’s position in the match.

Trent Boult was adjudged player of the match and Jofra Archer of Rajasthan Royals the player of the tournament. Archer, the  England fast bowler, took 20 wickets in 14 matches, five catches and some excellent batting cameos with his five fours and 10 sixes.

Delhi’s Kagiso Rabada won the Purple Cap for the most wickets (30) in the tournament. Kings XI Punjab batsman KL Rahul took the orange cap for leading run-scorer, amassing 670 in 14 matches, including a century and five half centuries.

Royal Challengers Bangalore opener Devdutt Padikkal won the Emerging Player award. The 20-year-old scored 483 runs and scored five half-centuries.

This was the toughest and most evenly contested IPLs in the history of the tournament. The 13th edition of Indian Premier League saw all 8 teams winning six matches each for the first time.

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Defending champions Mumbai Indians registered a 57-run win against Delhi Capitals in the first qualifier to storm into the final of Indian Premier League 2020 at Dubai International Stadium on November 5.

Earlier, after being sent into bat, Mumbai posted 200/5 helped by an unbeaten 60-run partnership by Ishan Kishan (55 off 30 balls) and Hardik Pandya (37 off 14).

In reply, Delhi could make only 143 for 8 with Jasprit Bumrah (4/14) registering his best bowling in T20 cricket. Bumrah was adjudged man of the match. He also has the Purple Cap for the maximum wickets (27 wickets).

Trent Boult (2/9), Krunal Pandya (1/22) and Kieron Pollard (1/36) were the other wicket takers.

Delhi had a disastrous start losing three wickets for nought by the second over – of openers Prithvi Shaw, Shikhar Dhawan and Ajinkya Rahane. A valiant partnership between Marcus Stoinis (65) and Axar Patel (42) eventually helped Delhi reach a respectable 143 /8.

Delhi will now clash on November 8 with the winners of the Eliminator round between Bangalore and Hyderabad. The winner of that match will go into the final.

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An unbeaten 116-run opening wicket stand between Quinton de Kock and Ishan Kishan guided Mumbai Indians to a massive 10-wicket win against Chennai Super Kings in the 41st match of the Indian Premier League match in Sharjah on October 23.

After restricting Chennai to 114 for nine in 20 overs, Mumbai openers Quinton de Kock (46 runs off 37 balls) and Ishan Kishan (68 off 37) reached the target easily.

Mumbai Indians won the toss and opted to field first. They were led by Kieron Pollard in the absence of Rohit Sharma, who is injured.

Man of the Match Trent Boult (4-18), pacer Jasprit Bumrah (2-25) and leg-spinner Rahul Chahar wreaked havoc with their excellent spells. Rahul Chahar got CSK skipper MS Dhoni (16) and then Deepak Chahar (0) out in quick succession. Chennai were down to 3/4 in less than three overs and 24/5 in six overs. They had only Sam Curran’s knock of 52 (47 balls) to bank on.

Mumbai are now at the top of the table with 14 points; Chennai’s chances of making it to the playoffs seem low.

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Mumbai Indians registered a five-wicket victory over Delhi Capitals in Abu Dhabi on October 11 in the 27th match of the IPL season.

Chasing a 163-run target set by DC, Quinton de Kock (53 runs off 36 balls, 4×4, 3×6), Suryakumar Yadav (53 off 32) and Ishan Kishan (28 off 15) achieved the goal easily. Man of the match Quinton de Kock’s powerful shots gave MI a fine start. He also reached his second half century in IPL 2020. Yadav also hit his second fifty in a row.

Despite the Delhi bowling being helped by Ravichandran Ashwin and Kagiso Rabada taking key wickets, the target seemed like too little for the reigning champions who knocked off the last seven runs with two balls left.

Delhi won the toss and elected to bat, but the early dismissals of Prithvi Shaw and Ajinkya Rahane was a setback. Skipper Shreyas Iyer took 42 off 33) had an 85-run third wicket stand with Shikhar Dhawan (69 off 52) to reach 162/4 in 20 overs.

MI’s solid batting line-up took them to 166/5 in 19.4 overs. MI has now replaced DC at the top of the table owing to better net run rate.

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Mumbai Indians registered their fourth successive victory in IPL 2020, in Abu Dhabi on October 6 as they inflicted a 57-run defeat on Rajasthan Royals.

MI won the toss and elected to bat. Player of the match Suryakumar Yadav hit an unbeaten 79 off 47 balls to give Mumbai Indians an imposing total of 193/4 in 20 overs. He was ably supported by captain Rohit Sharma (35 off 23 balls) and Hardik Pandya (30 not out off 19 balls).

Chasing the Mumbai total, Rajasthan lost three top-order batsmen in quick succession; while Yashasvi Jaiswal and Sanju Samson were out for a duck on Trent Boult’s fiery bowling, captain Steve Smith was felled by Jasprit Bumrah. Only Jos Buttler (70 off 44 balls) carried the fight for the Royals, slamming five sixes and four boundaries.

Jasprit Bumrah took four wickets while James Pattinson and Trent Boult picked two wickets each. Mumbai, which bowled out RR for 137, were also helped by two sensational catches – of the wickets of Mahipal Lomror and Jofra Archer by substitute Anukul Roy and Kieron Pollard respectively.

Rajasthan Royals which had picked up two wins in the first two games of IPL 2020 lost the next two against Kolkata Knight Riders and Royal Challengers Bangalore. RR’s strength is its top-order and its middle-order appears to be struggling.

RR could gain from the arrival of England all-rounder Ben Stokes, who missed the opening matches of this season because of personal reasons. Stokes reached the UAE on October 4, but did not play in the match against Mumbai Indians owing to COVID-19 protocols. Stokes has to undergo six days of isolation before he can join his Royals teammates on October 11 probably. He has to undergo COVID-19 test on Days 1, 3 and 6, and will be allowed if all the tests are negative.

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Champions Mumbai Indians posted their third win in three matches on October 4 at the afternoon game in Sharjah Cricket Stadium against Sunrisers Hyderabad.

Chasing a target of 209, captain David Warner (60 off 44 balls) did not get enough support from his batsmen in tackling the Mumbai bowlers save for Manish Pandey (30). The 2016 champions ended at 174 for seven after their stipulated 20 overs.

Though Mumbai lost their captain Rohit Sharma early in the match, Quinton de Kock (67 off 39 deliveries) and Ishan Kishan (31) listed a 78-run partnership to gift the team 208 for five wickets. Sunrisers pacemen and Rashid Khan did a good job, but Pandya brothers and Kieron Pollard caused maximum damage in the final four overs.

Trent Boult was declared Player of the Match for his 2/28 spell in 4 overs.

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Mumbai Indians scored a convincing 48-run victory over Kings XI Punjab in Dream 11 IPL’s Match 13 at Abu Dhabi. With this, Mumbai has bounced back to head the points table.
After being sent in to bat first, MI posted 191 for 4. In reply, KXIP could score only 143 for the loss of 8 wickets.
Kings XI Punjab, playing for the first time in Abu Dhabi, had won the toss and captain K.L. Rahul opted to bowl.

Punjab’s heroes in the previous match could not replay their magic with the bat. Nicholas Pooran alone played a handsome 44 while Mayank Agarwal was dismissed for 25 by Jasprit Bumrah and Rahul for 17 by legspinner Chahar.

MI’s Rahul Chahar (2/26), Jasprit Bumrah (2/18) and James Pattinson (2/28) got two wickets each.

MI skipper Rohit Sharma top-scored with 70 (eight boundaries and three sixes), reaching 5,000 runs in IPL. Kieron Pollard (47* off 20, three fours and four sixes) and Hardik Pandya (30* off 11) had a 67-run partnership for the fifth wicket. Pollard was declared Man of the match for his quick-fire shots.

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In the 10th match of the Dream 11 IPL tournament, played at Dubai on September 28, Royal Challengers Bangalore won against Mumbai Indians in the Super Over. While Hardik Pandya and Kieron Pollard scored 7 runs for Mumbai Indians in Super Over, AB de Villiers and RCB skipper Virat Kohli chased down the target, scoring 11 runs in fact with boundaries to boost.

Earlier, AB de Villiers remained unbeaten on 55 as he and Shivam Dube took RCB to 201/3 in 20 overs, setting Mumbai Indians a target of 202 to win. The South African player hit four sixes and four fours. Villiers went on to win the Player of the Match for his superb performance.

Devdutt Padikkal’s 54 (40) and Aaron Finch’s 52 (35) also helped RCB cobble up a decent target.
MI had won the toss and decided to bowl. Later in Mumbai Indians’ run chase, Rohit Sharma and Surykumar Yadav were dismissed cheaply. Ishan Kishan’s 99 (58 balls) and Kieron Pollard’s unbeaten 60 runs took Mumbai to a tie. The contest then went to the Super Over.

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The world’s tallest building, Burj Khalifa, lit up in purple and gold to wish team Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) good luck ahead of their first IPL match on September 23 against Mumbai Indians. The LED display had the faces of the KKR team members including its captain Dinesh Karthik, and played their anthem.

However, luck was elusive as the team lost to Mumbai Indians by 49 runs in the match at the Abu Dhabi cricket stadium. Captain Rohit Sharma’s opening knock of 80 off 54 balls steered MI to a convincing victory.Rohit’s knock included six sixes and three fours.

Rohit’s90-run second-wicket stand with Suryakumar Yadav (47) frustrated the Knight Riders. Next came Saurabh Tiwary (21) and Hardik Pandya (18) who helped MI reach 195-5 in 20 overs.

Kolkata could post only 146-9 in reply, way short of their target.Jasprit Bumrah (2-32) dismissed KKR’sstar batsmen Andre Russell (11) and Eoin Morgan (16).Russell and Morgan seemed capable of resuscitating KKR, which had slipped to 77-4, back Bumrah broke up their partnership in the 16th over.

Trent Boult, James Pattinson and Rahul Chahar also finished with two wickets each in an all-round effort from Mumbai’s bowling team.

MI has thus rebounded from the opening loss to Chennai Super Kings.

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At the inaugural match in the Abu Dhabi Cricket Stadium on September 19, Chennai Super Kings beat defending champion Mumbai Indians by five wickets with four balls to spare.

At 6 pm, Sheikh Nahyan Mubarak Al Nahyan, Minister for Tolerance and chairman of ECB, declared the 13th edition of the Indian Premier League, IPL 2020, open.

There were no crowds, cheerleaders or flamethrowers but the aura of a regular exciting match was recreated with the spectator noise and blaring trumpets.

MS Dhoni’s team avenged last year’s loss in the IPL final with a thumping 166/5 victory. After winning toss, CSK sent MI to bat and restricted it to 162/9 in 20 overs.

Ambati Rayudu was adjudged man of the match for his brilliant 71 off 48 balls. His partnership with Faf du Plessis, who remained unbeaten on 58 off 44 balls, saved CSK after the early loss of two wickets.

Left-hander Saurabh Tiwary top scored for the Mumbai Indians with 42 from 31 deliveries, before du Plessis caught him. Quinton de Kock scored a brilliant 33 off 20 balls. Lungi Ngidi was CSK’s most successful bowler with 3/38.

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