By the Numbers: Champions League T20 2014

The Chennai Super Kings beat the Kolkata Knight Riders in the Champions League T20 final, ending an interesting few weeks on and off the field. It was Chennai’s second title, having won it in 2010 too.

Here are some pertinent numbers…

2 – Spinners reported for chucking. Kolkata’s Sunil Narine was reported, as was Lahore’s Mohammad Hafeez, in the latest bid to root out chuckers. The ICC have no say in this tournament though, so it doesn’t carry over internationally.

27 – Narine’s suspect deliveries (allegedly). According to an insider, three deliveries during the KKR match against the Dolphins were considered suspect, while every single ball he bowled against the Kings XI Punjab were rubbished. He was thus banned from bowling in the final.

244 – Most runs. Kane Williamson of the Northern Knights scored the most runs, batting in seven innings and scoring one century. Without his efforts, they may not have reached the group stage at all. He averaged 40.66.

3 – Centuries scored. Aside from Williamson’s ton, the others were hit by Suresh Raina and Jonathan Carter of Barbados. The latter made the highest score of the tournament, 111 not out, against the Cobras.

4 – SA teams’ points
. The Dolphins and the Cobras were abysmal, with just one win in eight games between the two of them. The Dolphins lost all four of their matches, while the Cobras avoided the bottom of their table on net run rate.

678 – Runs scored by KXIP. They scored the most runs, in four matches, but could not pull it off in the semi-final. Only Kolkata and Hobart also scored more than 600 runs.

17.80 – Glenn Maxwell’s average. The Australia all-rounder was a disappointing performer, unable to replicate his IPL form. He batted five times for his 89 runs, with a top score of 43. Not quite the Million Dollar Baby, this time.

12 off 2 – Frylinck’s F-up. Perth needed 16 runs off the last over, and then 12 off the last two balls, and Robbie Frylinck bowled two juicy full tosses. Mitchell Marsh smashed then both for six, as the Dolphins chucked away one of the more memorable games of the event.

14 – Kolkata’s unbeaten run. The Knight Riders hadn’t lost a game since IPL seven, until they reached this final and Chennai ended that streak.

1 – Hat-tricks. KXIP’s Parvinder Awana got the only hat-trick of the tournament, in the semi-final against Chennai. It was in vain, and it nearly went unnoticed across two spells, but still. He bagged Raina, Negi and Dhoni.

12 – Most wickets. Ironically, Narine was the highest wicket-taker in the event, averaging 8.83 with the ball. His best was 4/31 against Perth. He also had the best economy rate, and one of a few below six.

8 – Mohit Sharma’s wickets. From being the leading wicket taker in the IPL, Mohit wasn’t overly impressive. While he did finish in the top 10, his economy rate was more than eight, and he took no wickets in the final.

Infinity – The number of times we watched the McCullum save. The CSK batsman’s leaping boundary save, to prevent six, was a stand-out moment that will not soon be forgotten.

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