4 Teams to lose the most wickets in the first four overs of an IPL season
In any format of the game, especially in the shortest format, losing early wickets is not a great sign. Teams are hoping for a good start from the openers because they set the tone of the innings. Once the openers score some runs, the people in the dressing room breathe with ease as there is a relief of pressure. On the other hand, losing early wickets puts immense pressure on the batting team. Suddenly the No.4 and No.5 batsmen who might be in a different mindset have to get their pads on and go in the middle. More often than not losing early wickets is going to hamper your chances to win the game. On that note, let’s have a look at the most wickets lost in the first four overs of an IPL season.
4. Sunrisers Hyderabad – 22 wickets in 2013
Sunrisers Hyderabad lost 22 wickets in the first four overs in the 2013 IPL season. If you are wondering how a team with David Warner can lose so many wickets in the first four overs then we have to remember that Warner became a part of SRH only after 2014. Before that, there were numerous partners for Dhawan. Parthiv Patel opened the innings in some of the games whereas young Akshath Reddy opened in a few games and the numbers clearly suggest that it didn’t work. SRH clearly had a problem at the top but they have managed to solve it brilliantly after that poor show in 2013.
3. Pune Warriors India – 22 wickets in 2012
Pune Warriors India was a team in the IPL but for the others, it never was there because they just used to lose more often than not. One of the main reasons for their failure was losing a lot of wickets in the first two overs. Most of the time, PWI was two down very early without a big score on the board. Jesse Ryder opened in a few matches for them and even Sourav Ganguly opened for them in a few games but it never quite worked out for them. They used to lose a lot of wickets in the powerplay and then the pressure was on the likes of Robin Uthappa and Steve Smith who were forced to bat with lesser strike-rate. This was one of the main reasons for their failure as a team.
2. Deccan Chargers – 23 wickets in 2010
The leading run-scorers for Deccan Chargers in 2010 were Andrew Symonds and Rohit Sharma who used to bat in the middle-order. This clearly suggests that the top three didn’t do their job properly and so the middle-order got more opportunities than expected. Adam Gilchrist and Herschelle Gibbs both underperformed for Deccan Chargers as they kept getting out early. Their failure as openers was one of the main reasons for them losing 23 wickets in the first four overs in the 2010 IPL season.
1. Delhi Capitals – 24 wickets in 2020
Delhi Capitals broke the record which was held by Deccan Chargers as they lost 24 wickets in the first four overs in this IPL season. They lost a wicket in the first over of their innings on eight occasions in 17 games. In fact, even in the Final DC lost a wicket off the first ball. Prithvi Shaw who had started well in the tournament was just getting out on a duck. Dhawan got a couple of ducks in between and Rahane as well didn’t do much as he was getting dismissed early. Despite this problem, they managed to reach the Final which is a great achievement but Delhi Capitals will look to solve this problem before the next IPL.
