There was another really interesting innings in the #IPL match today. This time by Kane Williamson.
He scored 41(26) at Abu Dhabi. That's a strike rate of 157.7, which is the second highest for any score over 40 at Abu Dhabi this IPL. (Top was Suryakumar Yadav's 47(28) SR 167.9)
That, in itself, isn't particularly interesting. What is interesting is how he scored those runs.
He faced only 3 dot balls. He scored off the other 23. Those three dots were a ball he hit too hard to a fielder, one that hit him and they got a leg bye and the ball he got out on.
He scored 5 boundaries, all fours. So he scored 20 runs in boundaries, and 21 in non-boundaries.
He scored at a strike rate over 150, despite scoring fewer boundary runs than run runs. This graph is every innings this IPL with 30+ runs at 135+ Strike rate.
Williamson's in red.
He didn't have a particularly bad boundary rate either. One in 5 is about average. But his activity rate (strike rate for non-boundary balls) was an extraordinary 100.
He's only the second batsman to do that in an innings (30+ runs) this IPL. The other was Kieron Pollard.
Here's how his Activity rate compared to other innings.
and his boundary rate:
combining them gives this graph:
It wasn't a man of the match performance. It wasn't spectacular in terms of the highlights that it would have generated.
But it does tell a lot about the class of Williamson. He scored his runs by playing his natural game, and doing it well.
It also led to another interesting observation. There's quite a big difference in strike rates by grounds.
A team score of 163 at Abu Dhabi is probably worth about 222 at Sharjah.
*(assuming that the pitches continue to play the same - which is, admittedly, an entirely unrealistic assumption)
Just to add to that. Here's the comparison between run run proportion and strike rate, for the 3 grounds.
Sharajah - hard to turn over the strike, easy to hit boundaries
Abu Dhabi - Easy to turn over the strike, hard to hit boundaries
Dubai - somewhere between the two.
This suggests that Dubai is probably the ground that gets the better matches.
Share this Scrolly Tale with your friends.
A Scrolly Tale is a new way to read Twitter threads with a more visually immersive experience.
Discover more beautiful Scrolly Tales like this.