A look into the strike rates of a few top order batsman in IPL in power-play overs and outside the power-play in the last four editions...

The likes of Narine, Lynn & Tripathi have been devastating when the field is up and has struggled to keep up the same pace once it gets spread out. In the case of Lynn, the slowdown post PP is largely due to the introduction of spinners, against whom he struggled historically.

Narine has been the perfect power-play pinch hitter - a role not many have successfully emulated in IPL. He scores at a SR of 185 in the first six overs and has been dismissed 27 times out off 33 times inside the PP when he opened the innings.

Warner, KL Rahul & Buttler are three openers who have been highly successful inside and outside the power-play, testifying the fact these three have been among the best in the last four seasons. Of the three, Warner has the most symmetrical SR in PP vs non-PP overs - 144 vs 148.

The old guns Gayle & Watson haven't been at their best inside the PP but once they survive the PP, they have feasted on the bowling. Watson has a high dismissal rate while opening getting dismissed within the first six overs 21 times out of 35 innings (60% dismissal rate in PP).

Gayle's reflexes have probably slowed down with age which explains his struggles against pace (SR 138). Against spin, he strikes at 166 and in the middle overs (7-15) where the spinners operate the most, it further increases to 188 (and a boundary every 3.8 balls from spinners).

The likes of Rohit, Rahane and Dhawan have struggled with strike rates across phases. All the three have SR under 135 inside the PP and after the PP. Raina strikes at a decent 135 inside the first six but falls by about five points once the fielding restrictions are lifted.

Gill is an interesting proposition considering his PP strike rate of 115, despite him being more successful as an opener (Avg 47, SR 140) in six innings compared to batting in the middle order (Avg 26, SR 126) in 18 innings.