I don't know the stats - in fact, I don't know if the stats exist - but I would guess that opening batsmen are dismissed first ball slightly less often than others in the top six.
The reasons for this groundbreaking opinion are pretty straightforward: bowlers aren't usually warmed up, the loosener is traditional, the batter isn't generally looking to do anything other than leave the ball or nurdle a single, the opener knows exactly when he's going to bat, so he's not out in the middle having just been asleep/padding up/having a crafty smoke etc etc.
None of which explains the weirdest statistic from this year's IPL: six wickets have fallen on the first ball of the innings. I'd call that unprecedented if almost everything else in the IPL wasn't unprecedented too - it's only been going two years, after all.
Is it a trend? Is it a blip or a bubble? If you
bet on the IPL, can you bet on it happening again? Because if it's a
cluster, it probably will.
The day's other event of sublime unpredictability involved Robin Jackman saying something interesting. Not deliberately, obviously, he just read it out, but it was a rundown of the overs in which most wickets fall. All were comforting: the 20th had the most, then the 19th, then the 16th [first of the last five, cue slogathon].
The much heralded 11th [first after the ad brea... er, strategic interval] proved not as dangerous as first thought. Teams are switching on to that one. The
smart bet there would be on it becoming the least productive over in the competition, run-wise.
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