Worst in the last five

Kings XI Punjab sunk to another low in their most recent game against Rajasthan Royals: their IPL campaign is already going horribly wrong, and they didn’t help matters by making a meal of their last five overs with the bat. After 15 overs, they were reasonably placed at 126 for 4, a run rate of 8.40.

Their last five overs, though, were soporific beyond belief. Irfan Pathan pottered to 24 off 23, while Piyush Chawla struggled mightily, scoring 10 off 15. The result was 27 off the last five, and Punjab ended the innings with a run rate of 7.65. Eighteen singles and four twos were scored during this period, and not a single four or six, which was the first instance of a team playing all of its last five overs without finding the boundary even once in the 2010 IPL. There was one other instance of no fours in the last five overs, also against Rajasthan, but on that occasion Deccan Chargers at least managed three sixes and scored 40 in the last five. There were no such redeeming features for Punjab, whose comprehensive defeat has almost definitely ended their hopes of making the semi-finals.

And it’s hardly a coincidence that Punjab and Deccan, the cellar dwellers, feature twice each in the top five worst performances in the last six overs. The only other team in the top five is Chennai Super Kings, in a display that is easily the worst choke of the tournament so far.