Welcome to Sharjah where 'Desert Storm 2.0' is unfolding amidst the soaring temperatures in the Arabian desert with mammoth totals, scintillating power-hitting, record-breaking chases as the best-in-class T20 batsmen from around the globe are making merry clubbing bowlers mercilessly on decks which are as flat as a cemented tracks and seem so with a shimmering silverish tinge IPL 2020: Blistering Knocks, Whirlwind Camoes Headline Swashbuckling Strokeplay At Sharjah's Batting Paradise.
It was raining sixes (28) once the Sharjah Cricket Ground as Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) almost pulled off a record-breaking chase against Delhi Capitals (DC) in Game 16 of the IPL 2020 played on Saturday evening (Oct 3) at Sharjah, UAE ..Chasing a herculean 229-run target, Eoin Morgan and Rahul Tripathi took the 'Purple Donning Knights' to the brink of a resounding victory but they eventually fell short by 28 runs.
All the three IPL 2020 games played so far at the batting paradise in Sharjah - one of the most famous cricket venues in the Middle East has seen mammoth 200-plus run totals being posted and one even being chased down courtesy record-breaking batting efforts.
The high scoring RR vs CSK set the tone when Chennai Super Kings (200-6) almost chased down a set by Rajasthan Royals (216-7). If CSK fell short by 16 runs, Rajasthan Royals pulled off the near-impossible chase when they hunted down a 224-run target much to the of Kings Eleven Punjab (223-2). It would well have been another record-breaking chase on Saturday (Oct 3) as KKR came close to DC's titanic 228-run total.
Watch: RR's Rahul Tewatia Gets Hit With Nasty Beamer Off Navdeep Saini, Smashes Two Sixes In Same Over
Power hitters like Sanju Samson (74-32 balls vs CSK and 85-42 balls vs KXIP ), Prithvi Shaw (66-41 balls vs KKR), Eoin Morgan (44-18 balls vs KKR) have lit up the IPL by providing a real exhibition of exquisite strokeplay and lofty ball striking.
It is not just power hitters but batsmen known for their conventional style of batting like Steve Smith (69-47 balls vs CSK), KXIP skipper KL Rahul (69-54 balls vs RR), Mayank Agarwal (106-50 ball vs RR) and DC captain Shreyas Iyer (88-38 balls vs KKR) and CSK's Faf Du Plessis (72-37 balls vs RR) who have got their eye in and then exploded to unleash sheer carnage with some conventional cricketing shots.
The bewildering finishing acts on the back of whirlwind cameos by Rahul Tewatia (51-31 balls vs KXIP ), Jofra Archer (27-8 balls vs CSK), Nicholas Pooran (25-8 balls) and Rahul Tripathi (36-16 balls vs DC) have turned the games on their heads and often been the fine line between victory and defeat.
World-class bowlers like Pat Cummins (4-49), Jofra Archer (4-46), Sheldon Cottrell (3-52), Mohammad Shami (4-53) and Kagiso Rabada (4-51) would be haunted for long by some nightmarish bowling figures they as they have been belted around with effortless ease.
Unlike Abu Dhabi and Dubai where teams have a set template of getting off to a solid in the power plays and conserving wickets, in the end, to step on the acceleration button, batsmen are fancying their chances to tonk attacks from ball one and set the innings on fire with their belligerent strokeplay.
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While winning the toss and backing their teams to chase down 200-plus totals seems to be the usual thought process, teams with power-packed batting lineups have fallen short too. It is a mixed bag of sorts at Sharjah with 1-2 for the chasing team at Sharjah.
One can round off by saying that Sharjah is proving to be a bowler's graveyard in IPL 2020. Red hot pace, subtle variations and even spin bowled with a great degree of deception are all being hit out of the park for towering maximums.
With another nine games lineup up to be played in the round-robin assignment of IPL 2020 at Sharjah, the cricketing fraternity could be in for an absolute treat as the bludgeoning stroke makers are waiting to turn up the heat and take centre stage with some enthralling performances.
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