An IPL for openers and big-hitters

The openers
In each of the seven previous seasons of the Indian Premier League, opening batsmen averaged less than 30. In IPL 2015, they averaged 31.4, almost two runs better than their second-best IPL season - the 2012 edition - in which openers averaged 29.62. Their strike rate of 130.48 was also the best for any season. Further evidence of their domination was the fact that eight out of the top-nine run-getters in IPL 2015 were openers, with David Warner leading the way (562 runs at an average of 43.23). AB de Villiers is the only non-opener on this list.

Importantly for their teams, the openers also did well as pairs. The average for the first wicket this season was 35.09 runs, more than two runs better than the second-best season - the 2011 IPL - in which the average was 32.51. There have been only three instances of an opening pair scoring 600-plus runs together in a single IPL season, and two of those came in this edition - Shikhar Dhawan and Warner posted 622 runs, while Parthiv Patel and Lendl Simmons scored 619.

Death-overs hitting
Teams scored at a run-rate of 10.31 runs per over during the last five overs of an innings this IPL, the highest for any season. Not only were the runs scored at a good rate, the average of 20.04 in this period is also the second-best for any season. Mumbai Indians played a significant role in pushing the overall run-rate up in IPL 2015, by scoring at a rate of 12.21 in the last five overs of an innings. They averaged 26.52 in this period, almost six runs better than any other team.

Some of the most effective batsmen in the last five overs in this IPL were MS Dhoni, Kieron Pollard, de Villiers and David Miller. Dhoni and Pollard scored the most runs in this period - 236 and 229 respectively - while de Villiers and Millers had the best strike rates (231.5 and 212.8 respectively) among batsmen who scored at least 100 runs in the last five overs.

Bat first, win match
Teams batting first in IPL 2015 only lost 24 matches, the least in an IPL season, despite the fact that three IPL seasons (2011, 2012 and 2013) had about 75 matches per edition while this IPL only had 59. The team batting first won 32 matches, and their win-loss ratio of 1.33 is the best for any season.

The only teams to lose more matches than they won when batting first in IPL 2015 are Delhi Daredevils and King's XI Punjab - both lost nine of their 14 matches when batting first. The other six teams combined lost only 15 out of 45 matches.

Fifty-plus Scores
There were 93 scores of 50 or more from 59 matches this season, and the ratio of 1.6 fifty-plus scores per match was the best for any IPL season. Warner scored seven fifties this season, the second-best for a batsman in a single IPL season after Chris Gayle (8 in 2012). Lendl Simmons made six 50-plus scores as well, the most by any Mumbai Indians batsman in a single season.

The 2015 season has generally been good for batsmen. An overall strike rate of 131.97 is the best for any season and the average of 25.37 is second best. Additionally, batsmen hit almost 12 sixes per match, also the second-best ratio for any season.