The Indian Premier League is nearing the crunch point in this year’s competition and there have been a number of Lancashire and England players featuring for various franchises.
The tournament is being played in the UAE due to coronavirus restrictions in India and despite there being no raucous fans in the stands, these players have provided plenty of performances to cheer about.
Let’s take a look at the players setting the IPL alight:
Jos Buttler
Lancashire and England wicket-keeper Jos Buttler has joined up with the Rajasthan Royals for the third time, having previously won the competition with Mumbai Indians.
At the start of the tournament, Buttler was tasked with opening the batting with captain Steve Smith with some poor displays initially before scoring 70 runs against his former team.
Just a few days ago, Buttler equalled that score as he led the team to victory over the Chennai Super Kings earning MS Dhoni’s match shirt in the process.
Buttler is hoping to have a few more man-of-the-match performances like that, after admitting his batting is not where he would like it to be.
Eoin Morgan
The captain of England’s white ball team has taken up the job at Kolkata Knight Riders halfway through the season after Dinesh Karthik stepped down from the role.
Morgan’s cool head and experience in pressure situations helped KKR to beat SunRisers Hyderabad in a super over after their match ended in a tie.
Morgan is currently averaging 39.71 for this year’s IPL, much higher than he has averaged in the competition before, which has helped his team to sit fourth in the standings.
Jofra Archer
The only bowler on the list, Jofra Archer has been one of the best players in the tournament this year.
He has the second highest strike rate of the tournament adding much need runs for the Rajasthan Royals, who have often suffered from collapses further up the batting order.
Archer’s incredible pace has allowed him to take 15 wickets at an economy of 6.61, the only player to take more than ten wickets at a lower average is spinner Rashid Khan.
England seamer Archer has seemingly secured himself two Xboxes during the tournament taking David Warner’s wicket both times the Royals have met the SunRisers
Jonny Bairstow
Bairstow’s good form at the top of the white-ball batting order for England has continued while playing for SunRisers Hyderabad.
Partnering pantomime villain David Warner, Bairstow has scored 326 runs, which puts him in eighth place for most runs scored in this tournament.
The Yorkshireman’s 97 is the fifth highest score so far, but he was annoyed to fall three runs short of a maiden IPL ton.
Jonny Bairstow has also taken up the gloves for the SunRisers taking seven catches, giving him much needed confidence as he attempts to stake his claim to be England’s wicketkeeper.
Ben Stokes
The third Royals player on the list, Ben Stokes arrived late to the tournament having taking compassionate leave to visit family in New Zealand.
While it is taking him some time to settle into batting at the top of the order, he has made useful contributions to the team.
His contributions include this fantastic catch off the bowling of Jofra Archer a few days ago.
The Rajasthan Royals will hope Stokes finds his touch sooner rather than later as they look to make a late bid for qualification to the knock-out stages.
