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Sunday, April 19, 2009

Extreme Performance Powers Mumbai Indians

It was close for the most part, but the Mumbai Indians batted better when it mattered most to win the first game of the IPL 2009. After 15 overs of their innings, Mumbai were 105 for 4. In comparison, the Chennai Super Kings were 108 for 5. That should have meant the game would go down to the wire but Tendulkar’s men ended up winning pretty comfortably. The difference- Abhishek Nayar (35 runs of 14 deliveries) and Mumbai’s blitz at the end. And that’s exactly the area Mumbai needed to focus on, as a closer look at the Castrol Index reveals. The Extreme Performance Batting, or EP Bat measures a team’s batting performance in the last five overs of an innings and is a function of runs scored and wickets lost in that time. A look at last year’s ratings indicates that Chennai had a clear edge in this department, highlighting their ability to finish strong and win close matches.

Mumbai were in the middle of the pack last year, and their best batsman at the death was Abhishek Nayar. He scored 99 runs in the Extreme Power overs across all matches at a staggering strike-rate of 220. And while he got the runs in the previous season, they were usually in losing causes.

If game one is a sign of things to come there is lot the Mumbai team can look forward to. Firstly, they beat last year’s runners-up at their own game, outplaying them in the final five overs in the innings- an area in which Chennai have traditionally been better than every other team. Secondly, Mumbai’s weak link last year was their inability to finish games and win the close ones- but with Abhishek Nayar getting into some good form early on (plus with the additions of players like Jean Paul Duminy and Graham Napier), the team seems well positioned to overcome this weakness. Keep an eye on Mumbai’s EP Bat index over the next few games- it could the telling stat as to whether this team can go all the way or not.

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