The journey of IPL 2016 began on April 9th and today we are on 29th May, 2016 witnessing the big final of the ninth season of Indian Premier League (IPL). There was a time in the tournament when Royal Challengers Bangalore were in a do or die situation to keep themselves in the hunt for a play-offs spot. And today, Virat led RCB, is in the finals. Sunrisers Hyderabad on the other end have had a decent tournament. Their bowling has been right on track, despite the fact that Nehra has been out due to injury. Batting of SRH has done well in patches and dominantly dependent on Warner to get a good start.
(List of records and stats of IPL 2016 final, after the match summary)
David Warner won the final toss of the tournament and chose to bat first, Virat Kohli was happy to field first. SRH have come into this came with just one change as Mustafizur Rahman is fit and back into the team.
David Warner and Shikhar Dhawan got off to a good start, considering the pressure of the big match. Both Warner and Dhawan scored 59 runs in the powerplay (Contribution: Warner 31, Dhawan 25). It was Chahal who got the first break-through for RCB by picking the wicket of Dhawan in the 7th over. RCB got their 2nd wicket in the form of Henriques (scored 4 off 5 balls) in the 10th over. But in the span of 1st and 2nd wicket, Warner scored another 30 runs. Big blow came for SRH when Warner was dismissed in the 14th over for 69 runs (38 balls) by S Aravind. Another blow for SRH came 3 overs later when Yuvraj Singh was dismissed for 38 (23 balls) in the 17th over. But it was Ben Cutting, whose hit big shots in the death overs ensured a good score that SRH can defend. He scored 39 off 15 balls and helped SRH score 208 runs in the 20 overs. Target for RCB to win the final, 209.
KKR had chased down 200 in the IPL 2014 final at the same ground.
While Kohli started off the chase carefully. But Gayle showed his true form as he hit 44 runs off the 59 runs that RCB scored in their powerplay overs. Kohli scored just 10. Gayle continued his good show as RCB reached 100 runs in just 9 overs, Gayle contributed 74. SRH had the best bowling unit this season, but when Gayle got going, event they looked ordinary.
SRH finally took a sigh of relief as Gayle got out in the 11th over of the inning for 76 runs. In the 13th over came another blow for RCB as Kohli was dismissed for 54. More trouble followed in the next over as de Villiers too got out and RCB still needed 61 off 37 balls. Watson gave 61 in his 4 overs and now RCB need 51 off the last 5 overs. Watson departed in the 17th over and left his team in deep trouble with 45 required off 21 balls. From there on it was the Mustafizur Rahman and Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s show as they didn’t provide many loose deliveries for RCB to score.
In the end, battle between the Best Batting Side and the Best Bowling Side this season (IPL 2016) was won by the Best Bowling Side – Sunrisers Hyderabad by 8 runs.
Here’s a list of all the important records and stats from this match –
IPL Final Win at Home – CSK is the only team in the history of IPL to win an IPL Final at their home ground. CSK won the IPL 2011 final in Chennai. Can RCB be the second one to do it?
Players to win IPL – Shane Watson and Iqbal Abdulla are the only two players who have been a part of the IPL winning team. Shane Watson for RR in 2008 and Iqbal Abdulla for KKR in 2012.
First final for Yuvraj – This is would be the first IPL final for many players, but most importantly it is the first final for Yuvraj Singh. He definitely needed this one, mainly after having represented different teams in the previous season.
2nd player to 800 runs in an IPL season – David Warner becomes 2nd player in the history of IPL (and this IPL) to score over 800 runs in an IPL season. First player to do so? Virat Kohli.
Most 50s in IPL 2016 – David Warner scores his 9th 50 in IPL 2016, the most by any player this season. Though Warner hasn’t scored a 100 in IPL 2016.
Fastest 50 in IPL Final – David Warner took 24 deliveries to reach his 50. This is joint fastest 50 in an IPL final. Suresh Raina scored a 24 ball in 50 in the final of IPL 2010.
Most boundaries (fours) in IPL 2016 – David Warner has hit 88 boundaries in IPL 2016, this is the most boundaries (fours) hit by any player in IPL 2016. Virat was on 2nd position with 83 fours.
Longest Six of IPL 2016 – Ben Cutting hit Shane Watson for 117 meter six. This is the longest 6 of IPL 2016. What better time could it be than an IPL Final to hit one?
Previous longest six was by AB de Villiers (111 meters).
Highest IPL Target – 209 (SRH 208/7) for RCB to win the IPL final. This is the highest target ever set by any team in an IPL Final.
Most expensive spell in an IPL Final – Shane Watson gave away 61 runs in the IPL Final. This is the most expensive spell in IPL Final ever.
Previous Highest successful chase in IPL Final – KKR chased down the target of 200 in IPL 2014 (at Bangalore). This was a record target set for RCB to win their maiden IPL Title.
9000 runs in T20 Cricket – Chris Gayle becomes the first player in the history of T20 Cricket to score over 9000 runs. 2nd best – Brad Hodge (6998) hasn’t crossed even 7000 runs.
Second Fastest 50 in IPL Final – While Warner score the joint fastest 50 in IPL Final, Gayle has hit the second fastest in an IPL Final. Gayle scored his 50 in 25 deliveries.
Most runs in Powerplays – Both teams (RCB & SRH) scored 59 runs each in their respective powerplays. That makes it 118 runs in Powerplays. 118 runs is the most runs scored in powerplays in an IPL Final. Previous best was 110 between KKR and CSK in IPL 2012 Final.
250 Sixes in IPL – Chris Gayle has now hit 250+ sixes in IPL, most by any player. No other player has hit more than 175 sixes in IPL.
Most runs in IPL – Virat Kohli has again gone past Suresh Raina by scored 4108 runs in IPL to become the highest run scorer in the history of IPL. Suresh Raina has scored 4098 runs.
Missed 1000 – No player in this history of IPL has scored 1000 or more runs in an IPL season. Virat Kohli missed it by 27 runs, the closest anyone has ever got.
Most Sixes in IPL 2016 – Two man from the same team – Virat Kohli and de Villiers had a run among them to hit the most number of sixes in IPL 2016. In the end it is Virat Kohli who came out on top with 38 sixes. De Villiers is 2nd with 37. Together they have scored 75 sixes in this IPL.
Dominating Sixes – Virat Kohli (38) and AB de Villiers (37) together have hit almost 12% of the sixes hit in this tournament. Almost 12% by 2 players and the rest are hit by over 100 odd players who have played in IPL 2016. Total sixes hit this season 637.
All round performance – Ben Cutting scored 39 off 15 balls while batting and picked up 2 wickets (Gayle and Rahul) for 35 runs in 4 overs. Definitely a match winning performance.
Another Australian Captain to win IPL – Shane Warne (RR) and Adam Gilchrist (DC) were two Australian players who have led their respective IPL team to a tournament win. David Warner (SRH) is now the 3rd Australian Captain to lead an IPL team to win the IPL Title.
Orange Cap at the end of IPL 2016 – The cap for highest run scorer in IPL 2016, the Orange Cap belongs to Virat Kohli with 973 runs.
Purple Cap at the end of IPL 2016 – The cap for the highest wicket taker in IPL 2016, the Purple Cap belongs to Bhuvneshwar Kumar. Bhuvi has taken 23 wickets this season.
Maiden IPL Title – Sunrisers Hyderabad win their Maiden IPL Title under the captaincy of David Warner.
