White's stunning rise

In the matches played over the weekend, both Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers Bangalore pulled off what seemed to be impossible chases. AB de Villiers yet again played a vital hand of 47 off just 17 balls to enable Royal Challengers score an astonishing 72 off the last 23 balls. In the ESPNcricinfo analysis of top batting performances in IPL 2012, de Villiers' remarkable effort, although not a huge score, finished as high as 12th. de Villiers also holds the top spot for his 59 off 23 balls which enabled Royal Challengers recover from a dicey 67 for 3 against Rajasthan Royals. Virender Sehwag, who has struck a purple patch, figures twice in the top ten for his innings of 87 against Pune Warriors and 73 against Royals. Deccan Chargers, who have struggled for consistency so far have found Cameron White's batting form to be a blessing. White has scored over 300 runs with three fifty-plus scores so far at a high strike rate of 156.

Ajinkya Rahane, who features twice in the top ten, has failed to maintain the run he managed at the beginning of the tournament. Kevin Pietersen, whose 103 is third on the list, will be sorely missed by Delhi Daredevils but David Warner's arrival is likely to boost their already explosive batting options. Chris Gayle, who became the first batsman to hit 100 sixes in the IPL, features once in the top ten and three times in the top 20. Gautam Gambhir too has been extremely prolific and his success is reflected in the fact that three of his batting performances feature in the top 20 of IPL 2012.

When it comes to the top bowling performances in IPL 2012, spinners dominate the list taking the top four spots. While Ravindra Jadeja is on top for his five-wicket haul against Chargers, KP Appanna and Pawan Negi take the next two spots. A distinct feature of both these spells is that the majority of the wickets picked up by the bowlers were those of top-order batsmen. In Appanna's case, all four wickets were that of top-five batsmen while in Negi's case, three of his four wickets were batsmen in the top five. Fast bowlers take five of the next six positions with Dale Steyn's 3 for 12 in a lost cause against Mumbai Indians being the stand-out performance. In another case of a highly economical bowling performance getting its due credit, Praveen Kumar's outstanding figures of 0 for 8 against Royal Challengers finished 15th on the list.

Virender Sehwag's terrific consistency has seen him retain the top spot on the list of leading batsmen in IPL 2012. Gambhir follows closely with Gayle in third position. The excellent form of White and de Villiers has ensured that they leapfrog Rahane to finish in the top five. Both Shikhar Dhawan and Faf du Plessis have been superb at the top of the order for their respective teams and feature in the top ten. Although Rahul Dravid has scored at a comparatively low strike rate (116.25), his consistency has meant that he has scored nearly 400 runs in 11 innings.

Lasith Malinga, who missed a couple of matches following an injury, got back to his best form and continues to stay on top of the list of best bowlers in IPL 2012. He is also the leading wicket-taker in the tournament with 20 wickets in just eight matches. Sunil Narine and the second-highest wicket-taker Morne Morkel are in second and third positions and are separated by less than one point. Steyn, who had an ordinary day against Royal Challengers, has dropped from second position to fourth. Brad Hogg, Piyush Chawla and Shahbaz Nadeem have all managed excellent economy rates under seven and grab three of the next four spots.

Sehwag's incredible run has lifted him to fourth position above Shane Watson on the list of all-time leading batsmen in the IPL. Gayle and Shaun Marsh, by virtue of their consistency across seasons, continue to take the top two spots. While Sachin Tendulkar has moved up from eighth to seventh, Gambhir's recent form has also seen him move up one position from tenth to ninth finishing above Suresh Raina.

Malinga retains the top spot with a considerable lead over the second-placed Amit Mishra who is only marginally ahead of Farvez Maharoof and Muttiah Muralitharan. Morkel and Steyn, who have been the stand-out pace bowlers in this season of the IPL, finish comfortably in the top ten. Morkel, in particular, has risen from seventh position to fifth on the latest list. His South African fast-bowling partner Steyn, however, has suffered slightly as a result of a couple of ordinary displays and has fallen from fifth to eighth. R Ashwin and Munaf Patel round off the top ten taking the last two spots.