Going forward in the Indian Premier League (IPL) this season, it seems teams winning the toss will look to chase totals since dew on the ground is making it hard to defend.
Teams batting second have won 15 of the last 18 games that have finished in regular overs pointing to the impact dew has been having in defending totals as the tournament has progressed.
Even in the two games — over the last 20 matches — that have ended in Super Over, teams batting second have managed to reach first innings totals of 163 and 176.
No wonder, captains and coaches are unhappy.
On Friday night, Kings XI Punjab skipper pointed to the difficulty in defending totals and said it is ‘a horrible toss to lose with the amount of dew later on’.
“The wrist spinners want the ball to be dry and get some grip off the surface but with the dew, it got really difficult,” said Rahul after the match.
On Thursday night, after Kolkata Knight Riders failed to defend a 172-run target against Chennai Super Kings, team mentor David Hussey too blamed dew for it.
“The toss did not help. With a lot of dew around, (our bowlers) could not quite grip the ball,” he had said after the match.
Mumbai Indians’ stand-in captain Kieron Pollard had also blamed the dew after their October 25 loss to Rajasthan Royals.
“The wicket ended up being a good wicket with a little bit of dew,” he said.
