Every cricket fan knows the power play is a double-edged sword. Now it’s time to go big or go bust. Boundaries are free, but wickets are waiting. Some teams go with educated aggression and hold their nerve, while others succumb to the pressure by losing a flurry of early wickets and often edge their teams toward an uphill battle. Thus far in the 2025 season, we’ve seen a significant contrast in how teams approach and come out of the risky power-play period. Now, the question is: Whose team has lost the most wickets in the power play this year?
1. Peshawar Zalmi
Peshawar Zalmi has continually gotten off to a bad start. Clearly, they’ve lost 12 wickets in the power play in 5 innings, and it is evident that the top order is clearly under attack. That equates to 2.4 wickets taken roughly per inning in the first six overs of the innings. That is not a number any team would want beside their name.
Zalmi’s run rate isn’t just low, it is staggeringly low given they have scored 225 runs at a strike rate of 114.28, where the run rate is 7.50! That doesn’t just reflect early losing wickets but also attacking momentum. With 11 sixes and 22 boundaries, I mean that isn’t that bad, but with 93 dot balls, it’s clear when Zalmi starts to lose wickets early, succumb to pressure early, and it becomes a little bit worse when they start to create pressure when they do play a shot..
2. Karachi Kings
Next, we have the Kings, who present a different pathway. They lost 11 wickets in the power play over 5 innings, which is only one less than Zalmi. However, unlike Zalmi, the Kings managed to balance their wicket losses with aggressive scoring. You can tell by their 261 runs off 199 balls at a strike rate of 130.93 that they are not sitting back.
They have more of a ground game with 38 boundaries and 3 sixes, but that is effective. Their running rate of 8.70 is by far the best of the three, even with a near identical loss of wickets to Zalmi. So, while Kings have also lost early wickets, no doubt they have been far more efficient in terms of their scoring while doing so, and that approach is risky, but there is a reward for it if it works well.
3. Quetta Gladiators
Finally, we will talk about the Gladiators who seem to have solved the powerplay conundrum. They have so far lost 10 wickets in just 4 innings – which is just (emphasis) 2.5 wickets lost per match, which is numerically higher per match than both last year’s Zalmi and the Kings with the context being – they have a 152.77 strike rate, and a 9.62 run rate in the powerplay, which is the highest in the league.
They have faced fewer balls (144) and have run up 29 fours and 10 sixes, making them the meanest team in terms of lost wickets in the power play. In comparing their performance in the powerplay last year in 2024, with leagues and minutes here on earth, with the Zalmi (and by referral), their importance is in the number of dot balls (59), and all as a more than reasonable level of aggression.
The active question is whether teams should be somewhat too complacent in the power play or whether they should just go down ‘swinging’, the evidence suggests that both should be viewed as okay. Want to see a good, calm start, or did you take a little bit of low-level fireworks with a couple of cadre early? Let us know in the comments – as with most backgrounds of subjects regarding T20 conversations, even switched on, it is alive.
Disclaimer: This Exclusive News is based on the author’s understanding, analysis, and instinct. As you review this information, consider the points mentioned and form your own conclusions.
For more exclusive updates, visit BJSports to access Exclusive News that is only for you, incisive analysis, and updates, and to keep up with all of the latest information on your favorite remarkable cricket players and teams. To ensure you never miss out, join in on the fun right away!
