IPL 2019: From Warner to Buttler, openers have struck a purple patch in the tournament

Different teams have devised their own success formula to forge some nerve wrecking wins over their opponents. However, one thing which has stood out and been common mantra to winning games is the opening salvo provided by openers who have been in red hot form.

Season 12 of the Indian Premier League is coming to the business end . Like the past editions, this season too has seen some stellar performances with both the willow and the red cherry. While Chennai Super Kings have once again been at their consistent best, making it to the play-offs for yet another season. It has been a turnaround season for Delhi Capital who made it to the play-offs for the first time in eight years. Mumbai Indians has once again raised the bar of their game when it matters the most. With CSK and DC through to the play-offs, the battle is heating up among the sides to grab the final two spots and themselves a chance to go the distance and win the title. Different teams have devised their own success formula to forge some nerve wrecking wins over their opponents. However, one thing which has stood out and been common mantra to winning games is the opening salvo provided by openers who have been in red hot form. One won’t be wrong in saying that most of the openers have been in stellar form for their respective sides in the ongoing season of the IPL . The one opening pair which took the IPL by storm this season has been Warner-Bairstow opening combo which has been in blazing form. Sunrisers Hyderabad's batting efforts in this editions have been headlined by the fireworks provided by the Aussie-English pair. While Warner made a thunderous comeback in the IPL notching up a staggering 692 runs with a ton and 8 fifties, Bairstow provided the perfect foil to his partner racking up 445 runs with a ton to his name. The pair were instrumental in helping SRH register some memorable wins by building some daunting and chasing down herculean targets. If SRH had Warner and Bairstow going strong for them, Punjab had Gayle and KL Rahul in rich run scoring form opening the batting for the Kings. Gayle, the belligerent power hitter has scored some whirlwind knocks to light up the league while the classy Rahul has gone about his business with his usual elegant yet destructive stroke play. The Gayle-Rahul combination has been the lynchpin of the KXIP batting scoring bulk of the runs for their team.Gayle and Rahul are among the top five run getters in the league this season. Rajasthan Royals could notch up some impressive wins courtesy the explosive starts given by Jos Buttler and Ajinkya Rahane. Jos Buttler has been at his best amassing 311 runs at an alarming strike rate of over 150. The Englishmen had the perfect opening partner in Indian Ajinkya Rahane who had played the counter by playing the stabilizer's role  at the top of the order. Mumbai Indians whose top order seemed to have a sea-saw kind of form in the early stages of the tournament were benefited by the healthy run scoring form of their Proteas opener Quinton de Cock. De Cock has consistently providing Mumbai with the much required impetus at the top of the order, leading the scoring charts with 393 runs. On the contrary, Rohit Sharma who struggled with the bat at the start has got into his zone in the later stages of the tournament. Delhi Capitals have benefited immensely by drafting in their local boy Shikhar Dhawan, who has contributed heavily with the bat notching up 451 runs. Meanwhile, the diminutive powerhouse Prithvi Shaw has played quite a few eye catching cameos scoring 280 runs for the Delhi Capitals. The duo have been exceptional in the Powerplays, scoring big and thus reducing the pressure on the middle order. Royal Challengers Bangalore who are languishing at the bottom of the table have seen both their openers Virat Kohli and Parthiv Patel scoring consistently all through the season. Besides the opening pairs which have been listed above,  Chris Lynn (264) and Sunil Narine (143) Faf du Plessis (179), who have opened in most of the matches for their respective sides – have had a decent outing with a bat in the ongoing IPL. So it once again goes onto prove that irrespective of the format, the good form of openers always augers well for any batting unit to set the platform at the start of the innings and help the provide the late flourish towards the end of the innings. As IPL 2019 reaches its business end, all the franchises would hope their top-order batsmen continue to go all guns blazing and lay the foundation for finishing of their remaining matches with a bang.