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IPL 2023: From Ruturaj Gaikwad to Kyle Mayers, Virat Kohli to Jos Buttler – How the openers are ruling the roost so far | Cricket News – Times of India


IPL 2023 is still in its nascent stages. But one strong trend that has emerged already is that of openers doing rather well.
Till after the RCB vs MI match on Sunday, April 2, there have been 5 completed matches and a look at the top run-getters list of IPL 2023 shows that 2 of the top 3 run-getters so far are openers.
TimesofIndia.com here takes a quick look at how in the 5 games so far, the openers have been ruling the roost in more or less every game:
Match 1: Gujarat Titans vs Chennai Super Kings
Result: GT won by 5 wickets

Gujarat Titans beat Chennai Super Kings for a victorious start

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Gujarat Titans beat Chennai Super Kings for a victorious start

Openers’ scores:
For CSK – Devon Conway – 1 (6); Ruturaj Gaikwad – 92 (50) – with 4 fours and 9 sixes
For GT – Wriddhiman Saha – 25 (16); Shubman Gill – 63 (36) – with 6 fours and 3 sixes
Total runs scored in the match: 360
Total runs scored by all 4 openers combined: 181
Percentage of runs scored by the openers in the match: 50.2%
Opener Ruturaj Gaikwad made his comeback to competitive cricket in style, falling just 8 runs short of what would have been his 2nd IPL century. This was in fact the third highest score by a batter in an IPL opener, after Brendon McCullum’s 158* for KKR in 2008 and Rohit Sharma’s 98* for MI in 2015. Gaikwad batted till the 18th over of the CSK innings. Gaikwad’s 92 was the biggest factor in CSK posting a competitive 178/7 vs GT, though that eventually wasn’t enough. The 26 year old is the highest run-getter so far in IPL 2023.

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Ruturaj Gaikwad (TOI Photo)
GT won this match and the early impetus was provided by opener Shubman Gill, who has been going through a purple patch as an international cricketer of late. He smashed 63 off 36 balls, with 6 fours and 3 sixes and stayed till the 15th over of the GT innings
Match 2: Punjab Kings vs Kolkata Knight Riders
Result: PBKS won by 7 runs (DLS method)
Openers’ scores:
For PBKS: Prabhsimran Singh – 23 (12); Shikhar Dhawan – 40 (29) – with 6 fours
For KKR: Mandeep Singh 2 (4); Rahmanullah Gurbaz – 22 (16) – with 3 fours and 1 six

IPL 2023: Punjab win rain-hit match against Kolkata

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IPL 2023: Punjab win rain-hit match against Kolkata

Total runs scored in the match: 337
Total runs scored by all 4 openers combined: 87
Percentage of runs scored by the openers in the match: 25.8%
This match was an aberration of sorts, though a quarter of the runs scored overall in this game were made by the openers, thanks largely to Shikhar Dhawan’s 40 off 29 balls.
Match 3: Lucknow Super Giants vs Delhi Capitals
Result: LSG won by 50 runs
Openers’ scores:
For LSG: KL Rahul – 8 (12); Kyle Mayers – 73 (38) – with 2 fours and 7 sixes
For DC: Prithvi Shaw – 12 (9); David Warner – 56 (48)
Total runs scored in the match: 336
Total runs scored by all 4 openers combined: 149
Percentage of runs scored by the openers in the match: 44.34%

Wood stars in Lucknow Super Giants' big win over Delhi Capitals

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Wood stars in Lucknow Super Giants’ big win over Delhi Capitals

Match number 3 of IPL 2023 saw over 44% of the game’s total runs being scored by the 4 openers combined.
For LSG, the man who really stole the show with the bat was 30 year old batting all-rounder from Barbados, Kyle Rico Mayers. Mayers, who made his international debut for the West Indies in 2020, smashed a 38 ball 73 with 2 fours and 7 sixes at a strike rate of 192.10. His opening partner and skipper Rahul couldn’t do much with the bat, but eventually LSG’s 193/6 was more than enough for the Delhi Capitals who succumbed to a 50 run loss, also thanks largely to Man of the Match Mark Wood’s exceptional figures of 5/14.

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Kyle Mayers (AP Photo)
For DC, David Warner, who has come back into the Delhi fold and is captaining the side in the absence of the injured Rishabh Pant was the highest run-getter. The Australian southpaw smashed 56 off 48 balls at a strike rate of almost 117.
Match 4: Rajasthan Royals vs Sunrisers Hyderabad
Result: RR won by 72 runs
Openers’ scores:
For RR: Yashasvi Jaiswal – 54 (37) with 9 fours; Jos Buttler – 54 (22) – with 7 fours and 3 sixes
For SRH: Abhishek Verma – 0 (3); Mayank Agarwal – 27 (23)
Total runs scored in the match: 334
Total runs scored by all 4 openers combined: 135
Percentage of runs scored by the openers in the match: 40.4%

Rajasthan crush Hyderabad to make winning start

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Rajasthan crush Hyderabad to make winning start

Match 4 of IPL 2023 saw both Rajasthan Royals openers come out all guns blazing. The young Yashasvi Jaiswal combined perfectly with the explosive Jos Buttler, who won the orange cap last season. Both RR openers made 54 in quick time. While Jaiswal batted with a SR of 145.94, Buttler, who smashed 7 fours and 3 sixes in his knock to once again start an IPL campaign with a bang, had a SR of 245.45. The two put on 85 runs for the first wicket.

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Jos Buttler (AFP Photo)
Despite the fact that both SRH openers combined could make only 27, thanks to Jaiswal and Buttler’s carnage, over 40% of the total runs scored in the game was credited to the openers’ account.
Match 5: Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Mumbai Indians
Result: RCB won by 8 wickets
Openers’ scores:
For MI: Rohit Sharma – 1 (1); Ishan Kishan – 10 (13)
For RCB:Virat Kohli – 82* (49) – with 6 fours and 6 sixes; Faf du Plessis – 73 (43) – with 5 fours and 6 sixes
Total runs scored in the match: 343
Total runs scored by all 4 openers combined: 166
Percentage of runs scored by the openers in the match: 48.39%
The fifth match of IPL 2023 was another one where two openers fired from the word go. RCB were chasing 172 to win against Mumbai Indians and the two openers, former skipper Virat Kohli and current captain Faf du Plessis were in prime form. Virat who has rediscovered his prolific mojo smashed an unbeaten 82 off 49 balls.

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Virat Kohli (AFP Photo)
He didn’t just carry his bat, but ensured that the momentum tha he and Faf had given the RCB run chase never dipped and finished off the game with a stylish six. Virat batted at a SR of 167.34 and after Match 5 is the third highest run-getter this season so far. Faf meanwhile scored 73 off 43 balls and at one time it looked like RCB would cruise to a 10 wicket win.

IPL 2023: Mumbai get Royal hammering in Bangalore

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IPL 2023: Mumbai get Royal hammering in Bangalore

Though the MI opening batters could only make 11 runs combined, almost 49% of the game’s total runs were scored by the openers, thanks to Virat and Faf’s batting blitz.

Cricket Batsmen.





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