Deluge of sixes and fours continues to hit Sharjah as 200 plus scores become par for the course

A storm has hit the Sharjah Cricket Stadium in the form of sixes and fours as the deluge of boundaries continues to enthral the spectators in the 13th edition of the Indian Premier League in the UAE.
A whopping 1303 runs have been scored at the stadium in only three matches. What is heartening from the spectators' point of view is that batsmen have literally toyed with the bowling.In the six consecutive innings played at the venue thus far this season, all the teams have posted 200 plus runs.
No other venue in the world has even come close to this purple patch and one can believe that things will just get better in the coming few weeks.
But what is the reason for the batsmen bombastic? Is it because of the shorter boundaries at the stadium? The stadium authorities said the deluge is because of the true wickets at the ground. The ball comes on the bat nicely and the quick outfield ensures that the ball rapidly travels to the boundary.
“One of the reasons for this flurry of runs is not so much the slightly smaller field but the fact that the ball comes onto the bat in true fashion ideal for a T20 competition. This is why watching cricket in Sharjah cricket stadium is another ball game altogether," said a delighted Khalaf Bukhatir, CEO of Sharjah Stadium and MD of Bukhatir Group.
On Saturday night, the young and vibrant Delhi Capitals went berserk as they hammered 228, the highest score so far in this edition of the IPL. It was all due to the splendid half-centuries by opener Prithvi Shaw (66; 41 balls, 4x4, 4x6) and skipper Shreyas Iyer (88; 38 balls, 7x4, 6x6).
Chasing 229 looked like a hopeless case for Kolkata Knight Riders as they lost an early wicket but the side rallied through Nitish Rana (58; 35ball, 4x4, 4x6) but lost a few quick wickets in the middle overs. However, England skipper Eoin Morgan (44; 18 balls, 1x4, 5x6) forged a brilliant 78-run partnership with Rahul Tripathi (36; 16 balls, 3x4, 3x66) to take the game to the Capitals' camp. The Knight Riders reached 210 for eight.
Last week, the stadium saw the highest run chase in IPL history when Rajasthan Royals ran down 223 to win by 4 wickets against Kings XI Punjab. The first match between Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals also saw the teams matching the maximum number of sixes hit in an IPL game.
And the fun has only just begun as the stadium is yet to host classic IPL rivalries this season including Royal Challengers Bangalore versus Kolkata Knight Riders (Oct 12) and Chennai Super Kings versus Mumbai Indians (Oct 23). In fact, the next nine matches look very promising as more records are likely to be set.