Kane Richardson the Big Bash League’s best bowler when it comes to power play wickets
Kane Richardson the Big Bash League’s leading wicket-taker but one metric is even more important to the Melbourne Renegades paceman ... power play scalps and lots of them.
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Kane Richardson can sleep easy.
The Big Bash League’s leading wicket-taker sets himself on one key metric when bowling for Melbourne Renegades. Taking early wickets.
For Richardson, it is all about starting with a bang and removing the most dangerous batsmen in the power play.
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“That’s always kind of a KPI for a fast bowler who bowls in the power play,” Richardson told the Herald Sun.
“The wickets at the end, they come and go, but trying to get wickets early in the power play has been the most pleasing thing.”
Well, Richardson, 27, tops both charts, his 22 wickets is No.1 in the BBL and half of those have been celebrated in the first six overs.
Richardson’s 11 early scalps sits four clear of Sydney Sixer Sean Abbott and Perth Scorcher Jason Behrendorff, although Behrendorff has a game in hand.
“That’s been the most positive thing,” Richardson said.
“T20 is such a hard game — you can bowl the same and the result is totally different. It’s nice this year to be on the end of a few good results, especially early (in matches).”
Richardson’s list of power play scalps includes England Test opener Joe Denly, Thunder captain Shane Watson, Hurricanes captain Matthew Wade, Sixers captain Moises Henriques and BBL guns Ashton Turner (Scorchers) and Peter Handscomb (Stars).
But there is a bolter coming. Boom Hobart kid Riley Meredith, 22, has taken six wickets in the power play from just 10 overs.
Meredith’s strike rate is a clear No.1 among the leaderboard with his searing pace undoing Jake Weatherald (Strikers), Cameron Bancroft and Turner (both Scorchers) before they got going.
Kudos Shane Warne, who quickly identified Meredith as a star on the rise.
“I’m a huge fan of Meredith and believe he’ll be playing for Australia in all forms of the game within the next 12 months,” Warne told the Herald Sun last week.
As for the best power play wicket-takers of all time? Behrendorff (34 wickets) and Stars veteran Jackson Bird (27) are the only bowlers to have taken more than 20.
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