Performance analysis of the top 4 teams of IPL 10

The league stage of the 10th edition of IPL is done and dusted and after all the twists and turns, we have the top 4 teams who will battle it out for the ultimate glory. Mumbai Indians, Rising Pune Supergiant, Sunrisers Hyderabad and Kolkata Knight Riders occupied the top 4 spots on the points table after the league stage. The first Qualifier will be played between MI and RPS while SRH and KKR will go head to head in the Eliminator match.

It wasn’t as easy as it sounds now as, until the last day of the league, there was uncertainty over the teams that will qualify. There were teams who were sitting pretty amongst top 4 throughout the league while others traveled the journey from top to bottom and finally made it to the upper half.

Here is an analysis of the performances of the top 4 teams that qualified for the playoffs:

#1 Mumbai Indians

The two-time champions ended up being the best side after the league stage as they finished on top of the points table with 20 points. Out of the 14 matches, they won 10 and lost just 4 and had the best net run rate of +0.784 amongst all the teams. They lost the initial encounter against RPS but went on to win the next 6 games on the trot. They were mostly amongst the top 2 sides on the table and exchanged the positions with KKR at times. But at the end, they were the toppers and deservingly so because of the sheer domination they showed throughout the league.

MI had a settled batting line-up starting with Parthiv Patel and Jos Buttler who provided decent starts more often than not. They found a revelation at number 3 in the form of Nitish Rana who literally filled in for the lack of form of the skipper Rohit Sharma during the first half of the season. Kieron Pollard was brilliant and the Pandya brothers played their parts beautifully. The best part about MI’s campaign was that someone stood up in all the games and took the side past the lines.

Their biggest contributor with the ball Lasith Malinga was off colored and managed to pick just 9 wickets in 9 games at a costly economy of 9.47. But what worked for MI was the fact that other pacers stood up. Mitchell McClenaghan and Jasprit Bumrah were instrumental in winning them so many matches. The Pandya brothers chipped in with wickets with the ball too and Harbhajan Singh did the duties of tightening the screws on the run-scoring. The bowling department worked as a unit and did wonders for the team.

Top Performers

MI have had a history of producing young Indian talents and this time, it was Nitish Rana who caught the eyes of everyone. Batting at number 3, he controlled the chases superbly and scripted a number of victories. He has scored 333 runs in 12 matches at an average of 30.27 and struck 3 half-centuries. Rohit was out of form initially and MI depended heavily on him in the past but Rana ensured that the team’s performances weren’t impacted by skipper’s lean patch.

When it comes to bowling, Mitchell McClenaghan is the leading wicket taker for them with 18 scalps in 13 matches. Although he went for more than 9 runs an over but he picked up wickets at crucial stages of the games that mattered the most. It’s quite evident that Malinga is not the same bowler he used to be a couple of years ago but the Kiwi pacer stood up and filled in for him big time.

The Path ahead

MI will now face RPS in the first Qualifier in their home ground of Wankhede Stadium on May 16. They haven’t had a good record against the side as they lost both the matches against RPS in the season. But being the champions twice, they know how to win big matches. If they win, they will move directly to the final to be played on the 21st in Hyderabad and if they lose, they will have another chance to make it to the final and will play in the second Qualifier against the winner of the Eliminator between SRH and KKR. Going by the form they have shown in the league so far, they are the favorites to lift the trophy for the third time.