IPL 2022: 3 players with consecutive 50s in the IPL
IPL 2022 will begin this Saturday in Mumbai with a clash between four-time champions Chennai Super Kings and two-time winners Kolkata Knight Riders.
Unlike the last few seasons, this year's Indian Premier League season features 10 franchises. Gujarat Titans and Lucknow Super Giants have joined the race to win the championship.
The season will be longer this time. Also, the race to the IPL playoffs match will be more competitive this time around. Franchises will expect more consistent performances from their players. Since most of the IPL games will happen on batter-friendly surfaces, IPL teams will hope that their batters step up and deliver the goods.
Over the years, many batters have proven themselves to be match-winners in the league. Before IPL 2022 begins, in this listicle now, we will look at three batters with the most consecutive half-centuries in the tournament's history.
#1 Jos Buttler - 5 consecutive fifties in 2018
Jos Buttler made his Indian Premier League debut for Mumbai Indians in 2016. Two years later, he shifted to the Rajasthan Royals and emerged as a match-winner for the Jaipur-based franchise. Buttler won multiple games for RR in 2018 and helped the franchise qualify for the playoffs.
During IPL 2018, Buttler smashed five consecutive fifties. His streak began with a half-century against Delhi Daredevils on May 2, 2018. He then registered scores of 51 and 82 (vs Punjab Kings), 95* (vs Chennai Super Kings) and 94* (vs Mumbai Indians) to help RR advance to the next round.
Check out the updated IPL point table here.
#2 David Warner - 5 consecutive fifties in 2019
Delhi Capitals' newest member David Warner was the backbone of the Sunrisers Hyderabad franchise for many seasons. Warner began his Indian Premier League career with Delhi in 2009 before moving to Sunrisers in 2014. He soon took over the team's reins and guided them to their maiden title in 2016.
SRH achieved a lot of success under Warner. The IPL captain led his Orange Army fron the front with his magnificent batting performances. In 2019, Warner matched the record for the most consecutive fifties in the tournament by recording five back-to-back scores of 50 or more.
He scored an unbeaten 70 against Punjab Kings on April 8, 2019 and followed it up with scores of 51 (vs Delhi Capitals), 50 and 57 (vs Chennai Super Kings) and 67 (vs Kolkata Knight Riders).
#3 Virender Sehwag - 5 consecutive fifties in IPL 2012
Virender Sehwag is the only Indian to have recorded five consecutive fifties in the history of the Indian Premier League. The former Delhi Daredevils captain achieved this feat during the 2012 season.
He scored 57 and 87* (vs Pune Warriors), 63 and 73 (vs Rajasthan Royals) and 73 (vs Mumbai Indians) to become the first batter in the league's history to record five back-to-back fifties. Sehwag scored five fifties in the space of 10 days at three different venues.
It will be interesting to see if any player can break Sehwag, Buttler and Warner's record for the most consecutive fifties in the Indian Premier League.