Wah, Cricket, Wah!! You are so unpredictable ft. Criclytics

T20 cricket is a game of fine margins. 

The margins are either defined by a moment of brilliance or a blunder. Sometimes, it comes down to the lack of players' ability as well. 

In the two matches played on May 13 (Saturday), Sunrisers Hyderabad against Lucknow Super Giants (noon match) and the night match between Delhi Capitals and Punjab Kings witnessed a bit of all. There was skilfulness in the batters, a fiasco in the decision by a captain, and a lack of players' potential.

Our Criclytics Win Predictor swung like a pendulum in both games' second innings. Let us start with the first game.

While chasing a target of 183, Lucknow were struggling at 30/1 at the end of the powerplay. However, they managed to gain some momentum after the powerplay. At the end of the first six overs, Lucknow had a slim chance with a 16% win probability, and that saw a spike to 24% at the end of the seventh. 

In any case, it started to dip again from the eighth over and kept reducing until the 12th over. From 24% at the start of the eighth, it went to 14% at the end of the 12th over. 

The rhythm started to build from the 13th over. Fazahaq Farooqui and Mayank Markande conceded 14 runs in both 13th and the 14th over, the exact required run rate. The 15th over also was a productive one as Lucknow amassed 11 runs. 

The maniac 16th over

Everything, the required run rate of 13.8, the win predictor at 71%, and a potent bowling line-up, pointed towards a Hyderabad win. Amidst all the advantages, why would a captain look towards a part-time spinner as inexperienced as Abhishek Sharma? A blunder that saw a massive advantage tear off. Even if Sharma had gotten rid of Marcus Stoinis, the next batter was an in-form Nicholas Pooran, a negative match-up. 

Though Stoinis's record against left-arm spinners in this IPL wasn't great, he took on the match-up and smashed two towering sixes before losing the wicket. After hitting 12 runs in two balls and a wide, Lucknow's win percentage shot up to 52% in the first three balls from 28%. The wicket of Stoinis saw Hyderabad at an advantage again with a win% of 64%. 

Alas! The successive three balls after the wicket saw the game tilt massively toward Lucknow. Pooran smashed three sixes in his first three balls. From 28%, the win predictor boosted to 69% at the end of the 16th over.  

There was no stopping Lucknow from there on. Hyderabad's win chances ticked like a time bomb before exploding. It went down to 14% at the end of the 17th, 8% on the 18th, and 2% on the 19th. 

Delhi fall apart in the middle overs

Criclytics thought that the first game was the end of a chaotic day. Then came the Delhi and Punjab game, saying, ‘Certainly not.’ But, the turn of events was in the opposite direction. The chasing team struggled initially in the noon game, but one over changed the scheme. In the night match, Delhi were cruising at one point but tumbled down like a toddler.    

Thanks to a scintillating century by Prabhsimran Singh, Punjab posted a par total of 167 on a tricky Delhi surface. Due to how David Warner and Phil Salt started the chase, it felt like there were no demons on that pitch. 

At the end of the powerplay, Delhi openers amassed 65 runs without being separated. Warner and Salt had cut down 38% of the runs in this phase. With a required run rate of 7.35 and 10 wickets, the win predictor was completely in Delhi's favour, with an 82% chance. 

Salt was sent packing in the seventh over. His wicket saw the win predictor decrease to 76% from 82%. Salt's wicket opened floodgates. Mitchell Marsh followed suit in the eighth over. 

A big blow that set Delhi entirely on the back foot was in the ninth and the tenth over. Rilee Rossouw slogged one straight into the hands of Sikandar Raza, and the well-set skipper Warner was plumb in front in the ninth over. With a double-wicket over, Harpreet Brar provided the impetus required for Punjab. 

Rahul Chahar then dented Delhi's chase with another crucial blow in the tenth over by dismissing Axar Patel, their second-best batter. Within 23 balls, Delhi lost six wickets for just 19 runs. 

From an 82% win chance at the start of the seventh over, their win percentage stooped to a low of 16%. In eleven overs, from the sixth to the 16, Delhi's win% went upward to downward. By the end of the 16th, the chase was done and dusted. Their win% was as low as 6%.

If the first match saw brilliance and blunders, this match saw a need for application from batters. However, in both games, Criclytics enjoyed a nice workout session. 

Oh cricket, how unpredictable are thou?