IPL 2019: Ranking the top 3 openers in the tournament so far
While IPL fever is taking over cricketing fans all over the world, the race to the IPL 2019 playoffs is heating up between the franchises. Although the tournament is still at an early stage, no team wants to be left behind in the competition - which is evident in the mad scramble at the top of the IPL points table.
In the game of cricket, the success rate of a team is highly dependent on its top order, especially the openers. The story is no different in the IPL as openers have dominated most of the batting charts in the history of the league and played a significant role in their team’s success.
Here, let’s take a look at the three best opening batsmen in the 2019 edition so far.
3. Jos Buttler
Jos Buttler was a revelation last year when he took Rajasthan Royals to the IPL playoffs single-handedly while opening the batting for them. The English wicketkeeper-batsman is back in familiar territory, and once again is up and running - he has scored 139 in 4 innings at an average of 34.75 in the tournament so far.
Buttler is one of the cleanest strikers of the ball in world cricket at the moment. Opening for the Royals, he has scored two fifty-plus scores this season.
If the Royals have to make it to the IPL playoffs once again, then Buttler has to keep going with his impressive showings with the bat, and pile up more and runs for the team.
2. Jonny Bairstow
David Warner’s partner in crime Jonny Bairstow is already going all guns blazing in his debut season of the league. Just like his partner, Bairstow is having a good run with the bat in the league as he has scored 198 runs at an average of 66 in only 3 innings.
He also scored a hundred against RCB and has stitched together three 100-run partnerships at the top for SRH with Warner.
Bairstow is chasing his opening partner for the Orange Cap and sitting pretty at the second position in the race for becoming the leading run scorer. He is in good form at the moment, and SRH will need every bit of his extravagant stroke-play going forward in the tournament.
1. David Warner
Making a comeback to the team after a one-year ban due to the ball-tampering fiasco, David Warner has taken the league by storm. He has already scored 254 runs in just three innings so far, including a hundred against RCB, averaging 127 at an astounding strike rate of over 175.
Warner is the Orange Cap holder at the moment, with two half-centuries in addition to the century. He is looking like a man on a mission, desperate to prove a point to the Australian selectors for the upcoming ICC World Cup.
Going ahead, SRH will be hoping that Warner continues his merry run and wins them another IPL title.