IPL 2018: Match 2, Kings XI Punjab vs Delhi Daredevils – Statistical Preview

Kings XI Punjab’s new journey in the IPL with the off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin as captain starts with the home game against Delhi Daredevils. Delhi, on the other hand, bought back their local boy Gautam Gambhir ahead of this season. The left-hander led Kolkata Knight Riders to two titles in the last seven seasons after left out by the DD franchise. Both the teams are filled up with big hitters from overseas and young Indian batting talents who hold the key.

Key stats and numbers to be looked out ahead of the second game of the tournament:

3 – Number of Twenty20 games Ravichandran Ashwin played since the conclusion of the 2016 IPL. He featured in three T20Is against Windies all away from home in this period. The game against DD will be Ashwin’s first T20 game in India since IPL 2016.

4-1 – Kings XI Punjab’s win-loss record against Delhi Daredevils in the IPL at the PCA Stadium in Mohali. KXIP didn’t lose at Mohali/Dharamsala in the IPL against DD since 2013. They have a win-loss record of 6-2 at Mohali/Dharamsala.

8.96 – Mohammed Shami’s economy rate of 8.96 in the IPL is the worst for any player. (Min: 100 overs bowled) His bowling average of 51.88 is also the 2nd worst for any player in the league who bagged ten and more wickets.

39.41 – Colin Munro’s batting average in the Twenty20 format in the top three since the start of 2017. In this span, he scored 1143 runs in 34 innings at an S/R of 163.75 and scored three centuries including one in India. He also scored seven fifties while batting in the top three in this period.

44.85 – KL Rahul’s batting average in his last 25 innings in the Twenty20 format. He scored 897 runs in those 25 innings at an S/R of 146.56 with seven fifties and a career best of 110*. In his first 32 T20 innings, Rahul scored 653 runs at an average of 24.18 only.

174.22 – Rishabh Pant’s batting strike-rate in the Twenty20 format while batting in top three. He scored 730 runs in 21 innings at an average of 38.44 with a 32-ball century and six fifties.

Pant scored 378 runs in 20 innings while batting at No.4 and lower in this format. He scored only one fifty in these 20 innings at an S/R of 139.48 and an average of 22.23.

294 – Number of fours Chris Gayle hit in the IPL so far. He needs six more fours for completing 300 fours in the league.

379 – Karun Nair aggregated 379 runs in the recently concluded Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 tournament averaging 42.11 and scored at an S/R of 173.85 with two centuries. He became only the 3rd Indian after Unmukt Chand and Virat Kohli to score multiple centuries in a single T20 series/tournament.