The poorest finishers

Monday’s match between Rajasthan Royals and Deccan Chargers will be a clash between two teams who are among the worst in the final overs of a match. Deccan, especially, have been terrible during the last six overs with both bat and ball: their batting run rate of 7.81 is the lowest while the bowling run rate of 11.81 is easily the highest (Kings XI Punjab are next on 9.72, which is two runs per over better than Deccan). The contrast for Deccan is starker because they are the best bowling team in the first six overs – their economy rate of 7.33 is the least among all teams.

Of all their bowlers who’ve bowled at the death, Andrew Symonds is the only one who has gone at less than ten an over – his economy rate is 8.41. The rest make for very sorry reading: RP Singh has conceded 79 runs in 36 balls (13.16 per over), Pragyan Ojha 74 in 36 (12.33), Jaskaran Singh 58 in 24 (14.50), Kemar Roach 47 in 24 (11.75) Rahul Sharma 39 in 16 (14.62) and Chaminda Vaas 35 in 18 (11.67). Consistently, all the good work done in the first 14 overs have been wasted with their shocking displays in the last six.

Rajasthan, meanwhile, are third from bottom with both bat and ball in the last six – they score 8.81 runs per over and concede 9.63.