Who has impressed and who has struggled during the first half of the tournament?
Andrew McGlashan20-Apr-20251:38
Bishop: We saw the best of Starc tonight
Mitchell Marsh (Lucknow Super Giants)Matches: 7 | Runs: 299 | Average: 42.71 | S/R: 167.97It’s been a notable return to action for Marsh, who missed the latter part of the Australia season through injury following his Test omission. He hammered four half-centuries in his first six innings before missing a game due to an illness in the family. He has benefited from the Impact Sub rule and has rarely had to push his body through fielding. “I’ve never been more motivated to score runs,” he said wryly about the ability to put his feet up. Marsh remains Australia’s T20 captain and has a big year ahead of him with the World Cup in India and Sri Lanka next February.Pat Cummins (Sunrisers Hyderabad)Matches: 7 | Wickets: 7 | Average: 36.00 | Economy 10.21It hasn’t been a stellar IPL yet for Australia’s Test and ODI captain while his team languishes near the foot of the table. Cummins hadn’t played since the end of the India Test series in January, having missed the Champions Trophy. His most recent outing brought his best return of 3 for 26 against Mumbai Indians but, overall, wickets have come at a price. From Australia’s perspective, if SRH don’t make the playoffs, it would give Cummins some extra time to prepare for the WTC final.Related
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Travis Head (Sunrisers Hyderabad)Matches: 7 | Runs: 242 | Average: 34.57| S/R: 168.05There have been flashes of brilliance from Head, who started the tournament with 67 off 31 balls as SRH piled up a massive 286 for 6 against Rajasthan Royals. More recently, he flayed 66 off 37 deliveries in a rollicking stand of 171 with Abhishek Sharma, as the duo produced another iconic IPL moment with SRH chasing 247 with room to spare.Josh Hazlewood (Royal Challengers Bengaluru)Matches: 7 | Wickets: 12 | Average: 15.91 | Economy: 8.17Hazlewood is going along very nicely, which has been good news for both RCB, who are challenging towards the top of the table, and him personally, having not played since mid-December before the IPL started. His 3 for 21 against Chennai Super Kings was out of the top drawer and he bettered that return with 3 for 14 against Punjab Kings, although that came in defeat. It is looking increasingly like another Hazlewood vs Scott Boland debate for the WTC final.Josh Hazlewood has made an encouraging return from injury•Associated PressMitchell Starc (Delhi Capitals)Matches: 7 | Wickets: 10 | Average: 26.70 | Economy: 10.68Starc began the season with a bang, taking eight wickets in his first two outings including a career-best T20 return of 5 for 35 against SRH, which included again removing Head. Since then, he has only taken two wickets in five matches, but played a starring role in DC’s Super Over victory against Royals when he nailed his reverse-swinging yorkers to secure the tie across 20 overs before keeping the Super Over to 11.Tim David (Royal Challengers Bengaluru)Matches: 7 | Runs: 142 | Average: 142.00 | S/R: 194.52David’s numbers neatly sum up the role he plays. Only dismissed once, facing 73 balls across five innings with an eye-watering strike rate of 194.52. Yet, two of his innings have come from No. 8 – where he has only batted five times in 249 T20 innings – to keep the talk going of when he comes in. Against PBKS, he single-handedly lifted RCB to a total that gave them half a chance with 50 off 26 balls.Glenn Maxwell (Punjab Kings)Matches: 6 | Runs: 41 | Average: 8.20| S/R: 100.00 | Wickets: 4 | Average: 27.50 | Economy: 8.46It is becoming another forgettable IPL with the bat for Maxwell, who was dropped for PBKS’ latest match against RCB after barely being able to make an impact in the first half of the tournament. That follows last season’s returns of 52 runs at 5.77. He has held his own with the ball, but that wasn’t enough to keep his place.Jake Fraser-McGurk is among those to have been dropped by his franchise•BCCIJake Fraser-McGurk (Delhi Capitals)Matches: 6 | Runs: 55 | Average: 9.16 | S/R: 105.76It’s also been a tough tournament for Fraser-McGurk, who has not come close to replicating his success from last season. He made 38 of his runs in one innings against SRH but otherwise it has been five single-figure scores. He lost his place in the starting XI for DC’s latest match. The IPL struggles follow a BBL where he only came good at the end with 95 off 46 balls against Brisbane Heat.Marcus Stoinis (Punjab Kings)Matches: 6 | Runs: 66 | Average: 22.00 | S/R: 157.14 | Wickets: 0 | | Economy: 11.37There is not too much to show for Stoinis’ tournament to date. Curiously, he was left out after producing his best innings – 34 off 11 balls with four sixes in the high-scoring game against SRH – before being recalled in place of Maxwell one game later. Has been used sparingly with the ball and has been expensive.Adam Zampa (Sunrisers Hyderabad)Matches: 2 | Wickets: 2 | Average: 47.00 | Economy: 11.75Zampa’s tournament never really got going before being ended by injury, used twice as an Impact Sub and coming away with two wickets. One of his outings was the astonishing 528-run game against Royals.Xavier Bartlett had to wait his turn, but has played in back-to-back victories•BCCIJosh Inglis (Punjab Kings)Matches: 2 | Runs: 16 | Average: 8.00 | S/R: 69.56Having started on the bench, Inglis has been brought in for the last two matches which have seen PBKS register back-to-back victories to climb up the table. But he has yet to get going with the bat – the first game he played was very low-scoring, as PBKS somehow defended 111, and the second shorted by rain.Xavier Bartlett (Punjab Kings)Matches: 2 | Wickets: 2 | Average: 28.00 | Economy: 9.33Ricky Ponting has no shortage of Australians in his squad and Bartlett is another who has been called off the bench for the last two matches. He has been used extensively in the powerplay and his two wickets have been key ones, of Quinton de Kock and Liam Livingstone.Nathan Ellis (Chennai Super Kings)Matches: 1 | Wickets: 1 | Economy: 9.50Only a single outing so far for Ellis, who came into the tournament off the back of an impressive run as captain of BBL champions Hobart Hurricanes and then consistent performances for Australia in the Champions Trophy.Spencer Johnson (Kolkata Knight Riders)Matches: 4 | Wickets: 1 | Average: 133.00 | Economy: 11.73It’s been slim pickings for left-arm quick Johnson with one wicket in four outings, and he has been left out of KKR’s last two matches.*Aaron Hardie, who is in the Punjab Kings squad, has yet to play.