They ran very little: The rope-crossers in T20/IPL

Minimum effort, maximum runs. That seems to be the mantra for some very gifted batsmen. Let’s have a look at some such performances.

These batsmen played innings which were studded with boundaries, some a few feet above the ropes and some a few inches above the ropes. They conserved their energies and ran very little. While it is true that the T20 format requires frequent boundary hits, these batsmen went way past the normal expectations.

Let us first see the T20 International scene. The criteria are an innings of 50 and a boundary share exceeding 80%.

Only one person would have forgotten Yuvraj’s innings: Stuart Broad. Helped by the six 6s in the Broad over, Yuvraj achieved the unbelievable 93.1% figure in boundaries. Great that Broad has bounced back. David Warner was very close, with 92.5%. The Sri Lankan great, Jayasuriya, is the only other batsman who has crossed 90%. McCullum appears twice.

Now for the IPL matches. Same criteria as for T20s.

Kieron Pollard’s 18-ball blitz, playing for Trinidad, against New South Wales, has a boundary % of 92.6%, nearly as high as Yuvraj Singh’s. Michael Lumb’s fantastic cameo against King’s XI Punjab also has a 90+% boundary value of 91.6%. Jayasuriya takes the third place in this table also, with a very high boundary % of 89.6. Note that this is also the highest placed 100 value and is followed by Gilchrist, playing for Deccan Chargers. Note the presence of two innings of Yusuf Pathan in the Top 10.