Smart Stats: Lungi Ngidi's super spell for CSK, and Chris Gayle's 175 not out
We look at the most impactful match performances in IPL history
The most impactful bowling performance in IPL history was Lungi Ngidi's 4 for 10 for the Chennai Super Kings against the Kings XI Punjab in the 2018 season, which had a total bowling impact of 185.85. In a match where the average run rate was 7.97, Ngidi conceded only 2.5 runs per over. He bowled three overs in the Powerplay, dismissing Chris Gayle for a duck and KL Rahul for 7, and then returned in the 18th over to take a couple of lower-order wickets, which did not greatly affect his smart wickets value of 4.74, because he dismissed two top-class batsmen early in their innings. His Smart Economy rate was in the negative: -2.68, which is reflective of the number of runs he saved for his team.
The top two individual scores in the IPL are also the top batting performances, in terms of batting impacts. They are also the only innings with impact scores of over 300: Gayle's unbeaten 175 in 2013 had a score of 373.33, and Brendon McCullum's 158 not out in the first ever IPL match in 2008 scored 343.02.
The top two slots here go to the two best batting performances in IPL history: the unbeaten hundreds by Gayle and McCullum were so special that no all-round or bowling performance has matched it. In third place is Chris Morris' all-round performance of 2 for 35 in four overs and 82 not out off 32 balls for the Daredevils against the Lions in 2016. He dismissed McCullum and Suresh Raina, and then, coming in at 57 for 4 in the 11th over in a chase of 173, Morris nearly took the Daredevils home, partnering with JP Duminy to add 87 off 21 balls.
These are the innings which define the specialists in this format: a handful of deliveries at the crease is enough for these batsmen to change the complexion of the game completely. Only one such innings has a batting impact score of more than 100: Morris' incredible 38 off 9 for Daredevils against Rising Pune Supergiants in the 2017 season. Morris struck four fours and three sixes off those nine balls. In second place is Rashid Khan's 10-ball 34 in the second qualifier in 2018, a knock which helped Sunrisers add 40 runs in the last 13 balls of their innings. Those runs proved to be vital, as they eventually won by just 16 runs.