Did You Know?

Who is the only bowler to take a five-for in the powerplay in IPL history?

And which batsman has scored the most runs in the first six overs?

Bharath Seervi
27-Aug-2020
Shikhar Dhawan has the most runs, has played the most innings and faced the most balls in IPL powerplays  •  BCCI

Shikhar Dhawan has the most runs, has played the most innings and faced the most balls in IPL powerplays  •  BCCI

Following last week's Did You Know on death overs in the IPL, this week we look at all the key stats on powerplay overs in IPL history. All the numbers are from the first six overs of an innings.
2383 Runs scored by Shikhar Dhawan in the powerplay overs, the most by a batsman. Dhawan has also played the most innings (151) and faced the most balls (1962) in the first six overs. David Warner (2299 runs), Gautam Gambhir (2277) and Chris Gayle (2233) are the others with 2000-plus runs in this phase.
145.62 Chris Lynn's strike rate in the powerplay overs, which is the best among 45 batsmen who have faced 400-plus balls in this phase. Virender Sehwag is next with a strike rate of 144.16, followed by Warner (138.99), KL Rahul (135.96) and Wriddhiman Saha (135.65). Sourav Ganguly has the lowest strike rate (102.12) among the 45 players with 400-plus runs in the powerplay overs in IPL.
137 Sixes hit by Gayle in IPL powerplays, the most by a batsman by a distance. The next highest is Warner who has hit nearly half that number - 73. Brendon McCullum (70), Suresh Raina (54), Adam Gilchrist and Dhawan (49 each) make up the top six. Gayle hits a six every 12th ball in the powerplay overs, which is the best balls per six ratio among the 45 players who have faced 400-plus balls. Lynn comes second (14.61 balls per six), followed by Rahul (16.92), McCullum (17.43) and Quinton de Kock (19.77). Rahul Dravid (118.86 balls per six) and Sachin Tendulkar (98.20) have the lowest balls-per-six ratio in the powerplay with the same cut-off. In terms of balls per boundary (both fours and sixes), Lynn has the best ratio (3.93 balls per boundary), followed by Sehwag (4.00), Gilchrist (4.30), Gayle (4.35) and Wriddhiman Saha (4.37). Shreyas Iyer (6.39) and Mike Hussey (6.34) have the highest balls per boundary ratio.
87 Raina scored 87 off 25 for CSK against KXIP in the qualifiers of IPL 2014 in the powerplay, which is the most runs by a batsman in the powerplay in a single match. The next highest is Gilchrist's 74 off 25 for Deccan Chargers against Delhi Daredevils in the semi-final in 2009. Sanath Jayasuriya (against CSK in 2008) and Jos Buttler (against Daredevils in 2018) hit seven sixes each, the most in the first six overs of an IPL innings. Gayle and Raina have a personal best of six sixes each.
467 Runs aggregated by Warner in the first six overs in the 2016 IPL season, which is the most by a batsman in the powerplay in a single IPL edition. The next highest is 382 runs by Gilchrist in 2009. Warner again features in fourth position, with 361 powerplay runs in 2015.
52 Wickets by Zaheer Khan in the powerplays, the most by a bowler. He is the only bowler with 50 wickets in the first six overs. Bhuvneshwar Kumar is second on the list with 46 wickets, followed by Umesh Yadav (45 wickets), Sandeep Sharma (44) and Dhawal Kulkarni (44). Eight bowlers have taken 40-plus wickets in the powerplays, and they are all Indian players. The most by an overseas bowler is 37 by Lasith Malinga, followed by Morne Morkel with 36 wickets. Praveen Kumar has bowled 1572 balls (262 overs), which is the most by any bowler.
35 Wickets by R Ashwin in the powerplays, the most by a spinner. Harbhajan Singh is next with 30. Ashwin has bowled 814 balls (135.4 overs) in the powerplays, the most among slow bowlers. Sunil Narine has bowled in 95 innings in the powerplays, the most by a spinner.
6.05 Bhuvneshwar's economy rate in the powerplays, which is the best among 40 bowlers who have delivered at least 60 overs (360 balls) in this phase. After Bhuvneshwar, the next three with the best economy are overseas bowlers: Narine (6.06), Dale Steyn (6.19), and Malinga (6.27). The next Indian with the best economy rate is Ashwin (6.38). Manpreet Gony (8.77), Mohammad Shami (8.49), Albie Morkel (8.45) and Tim Southee (8.00) are the only four bowlers with an economy rate of more than 8 in powerplay overs among these 40 bowlers.
24.74 Ashwin's bowling average, the best among 40 bowlers with 60-plus overs in the powerplay. The next nine bowlers with best bowling average in powerplay overs are all pacers, led by Munaf Patel (26.27), Sreenath Aravind (26.80), Sreesanth (27.00) and Deepak Chahar (27.34). Mitchell McClenaghan (27.41) and Shane Watson (29.00) are the only overseas bowlers in the top-10 by bowling average in the powerplays. Shami has the worst average of 95.85 (picking 17 wickets). The next three with the worst averages are overseas bowlers: Trent Boult (54.77), Tim Southee (54.66) and Brett Lee (50.90). Incidentally, Jasprit Bumrah has the fifth-worst bowling average in powerplays (47.61) though he has the seventh-best economy.
58.92 Percentage of dot balls by Ryan Harris in his powerplay overs, which is the best among 40 bowlers who have bowled 60-plus overs in this phase. Praveen Kumar (57.83%), Irfan Pathan (57.30%) and Steyn (57.01%) are the others with more than 55% dot balls. Jaydev Unadkat has the lowest percentage of dots (44.25%), and Shami is next (45.15%).
16 Wickets picked up by Mitchell Johnson in the powerplay overs in the 2013 season, which is the most by a bowler in a single season. Mohit Sharma had taken 15 wickets in the same season, which is second in the all-time list, while Deepak Chahar equalled him with 15 wickets in 2019. Ashwin picked 12 wickets in the 2012 season, the most by a spinner in powerplays in a season. Harbhajan is next among spinners with nine wickets in 2019.
1 Only one bowler has completed a five-wicket haul in powerplays: Ishant Sharma for Deccan Chargers against Kochi Tuskers Kerala in 2011. His figures after the first six overs of the innings were 5 for 12 in three overs. Shoaib Akhtar (2008), Ajit Chandila (2012) and Kulkarni (2016) have taken four wickets each in powerplays in a match.

Bharath Seervi is stats sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo @SeerviBharath