After reaching 1000 sixes in record time, how far can IPL 2024 go?

The 1000-sixes mark has been breached in the IPL for the third consecutive season. The addition of two new teams in 2022 meant that the count of matches increased to 74 and resulted in 1062 sixes in IPL 2022, bettering the previous highest of 872 in 2018. IPL 2023 then set a new high with 1124 sixes, a mark that is not far from getting surpassed.

With 17 games to go in IPL 2024, we are only 110 sixes away from surpassing the record set last year. Going by the trend of six-hitting seen this season, it won't be a surprise if the record changes by the end of this week. The 1000th six of the 2022 edition came in the final league match, but took only 67 games to reach that mark last year. In IPL 2024, the milestone was breached ten matches earlier, in the 57th game, and in 2312 fewer balls.

Six-hitting in IPL 2024 has gone to the next level with 1015 sixes hit in just 57 matches at an average of 17.81 sixes per game. It is the best rate for any IPL season, bettering the 15.19 of 2023. Sixes have been hit more frequently in 2024 - once every 13.01 balls on average, also the best for an IPL season - two balls clear of the previous best, 15.34 in 2023.

The improvement in six-hitting in IPL 2024 is a major factor behind the spike in scoring rates. The overall batting strike rate after 57 matches is 151.25, which is the best for any edition. The previous best strike rate, set last year, was 141.71, nearly ten runs per 100 balls less than 2024. Sixes have accounted for 30.48 % of runs scored by batters in 2024, which is also the highest for any IPL, going ahead of 27.64% in 2022.

The record for most sixes hit in a men's T20 match before this IPL stood at 37 - in an Afghanistan Premier League game in 2018 and a Caribbean Premier League fixture in 2019. That record was broken in Hyderabad on March 27 with 38 sixes hit in 40 overs when Sunrisers Hyderabad faced Mumbai Indians.

A couple of weeks later, SRH were part of a record-equaling effort in Bengaluru with Royal Challengers Bengaluru. Soon, the record of 38 sixes became history as Kolkata Knight Riders and Punjab Kings locked horns in a six-hitting fest at Eden Gardens. The two teams struck 42 sixes, all in just 38.4 overs, with PBKS scaling the highest successful T20 chase.

Five matches in IPL 2024 have witnessed 30 or more sixes. A team has hit at least 20 sixes in an innings four times this season. In the last 16 years, this feat had only been achieved three times.

SRH and Delhi Capitals have rarely been among the top six-hitting teams in the IPL, but this year, they have taken the top two spots. SRH, who had never hit 100 sixes in an IPL season before this year, have already broken the record for most sixes hit by a team in a T20 tournament with two league matches still to be played.

They have hit 146 sixes in only 12 matches, going one ahead of the record set by Chennai Super Kings with 145 sixes in IPL 2018. The previous best six-hitting season for SRH was 2022, where they hit 97. Similarly, DC's best year was 2018, with 115 sixes in 14 matches. It was one of two seasons in which they had hit 100 or more sixes before IPL 2024.

DC have struck 120 sixes in 12 games this season at an average of ten per game. However, they have conceded more sixes that they have hit - 123. The record for most sixes conceded by a team in a season is 147 by RCB in 2022. With five teams already conceding over 110 sixes, RCB's record could also be broken by the end of the season.

A year after David Warner's comments about the pitches at DC's home ground in Delhi not being suitable to batters, the Arun Jaitley Stadium has become a launchpad for six-hitting. As many as 114 sixes have been hit in just four matches at the venue. At least 25 sixes came in each of those games at an average of 8.41 balls per six. Eden Gardens in Kolkata hasn't been far behind, with 139 sixes in six matches, the highest at any venue in IPL 2024.

The top four spots for sixes per match by season at a single venue belong to IPL 2024, with Delhi, Kolkata, Bengaluru and Hyderabad on top of that list (minimum four matches played at the venue in a season). It shows how well most of the venues this season have aided six-hitting and turned the tournament into a freakishly high-scoring one. Only two venues had previously recorded over 150 sixes in an IPL season featuring the home-away model in India. The M Chinnaswamy Stadium, which hosted nine matches in 2016, saw 165 sixes hit, while the Narendra Modi Stadium witnessed 162 last year. Eden Gardens will need 27 sixes in the last match of the season to break that record. Bengaluru and Hyderabad aren't far behind, with 111 and 110 sixes respectively, with two games to go at each of those venues.