IPL 2022: Top 3 batting performances from Week 7

After 60 high-voltage games, the IPL 2022 has now entered its final week of the league stage. While newcomers Gujarat Titans (GT) have already qualified for the playoffs, seven other teams are still jostling hard to join GT for the knockouts.

The seventh week of the competition started with a high-scoring encounter between Punjab Kings (PBKS) and Rajasthan Royals (RR), where the latter prevailed. The week came to its end with a rather one-sided contest when PBKS outplayed Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) to stay alive in the tournament.

While there have been many run-fest matches this week in IPL 2022, fans have seen as many as seven occasions where teams have failed to breach the 125-run mark. PBKS posted the highest total of the week when they smoked 209 runs against RCB on Friday night.

Together, in a total of nine fixtures in Week 7 of IPL 2022, as many as 2,687 runs (424 runs less than Week 6) have been scored by the 10 IPL franchises collectively.

With that in perspective, here are the top three batting performances from Week 7 of IPL 2022.

Note: Only games from Match 52 (PBKS vs RR) to Match 60 (PBKS vs RCB) in IPL 2022 have been taken into consideration.

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#3. Jonny Baitstow - 66 off 29 vs RCB

England star Jonny Bairstow endured a tough start to his IPL 2022 campaign. He endured a string of low scores before PBKS decided to play him up the order. The move has worked so far for both the player and the franchise.

After scoring his first IPL 2022 fifty against RR, Bairstow delivered with his bat yet again in the week's last game against RCB.

The right-hander provided PBKS with an explosive start and took the Bangalore bowlers to the cleaners from the word go. He hit his first six in the very first over before clobbering 22 runs off one of the better bowlers of the tournament in Josh Hazlewood.

The Yorkshireman spared no bowlers and smashed seven maximums and four boundaries during his stay at the crease. With the help of Bairstow's display, PBKS piled up 83 runs in the powerplay itself. At the end of his innings of 66 off 29 balls, Bairstow got out by handing a catch to short third man in the 10th over.

Liam Livingstone then took over the reigns and scored 70 off 42, which led PBKS to post a massive total of 209. While defending, Punjab bowlers acted as one unit and every bowler chipped in with regular wickets.

Glenn Maxwell top-scored for RCB with 35 off 22, which led them to go past the 150+ mark. However, in the end, PBKS won the game by a healthy margin of 54 runs.

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#2. Devon Conway - 87 off 49 vs DC

Chennai Super Kings (CSK) have a rich history of phenomenal overseas openers like Matthew Hayden, Michael Hussey, Shane Watson, and Faf du Plessis. With his recent performances, it looks like they have found another one in Devon Conway.

After scoring two consecutive fifties, Conway entered the match against Delhi Capitals (DC) with high confidence. The Kiwi batter made full use of his form and stitched a second 100+ run partnership with Ruturaj Gaikwad in three games.

The left-hander was the aggressor between the two as he played some glorious shots, especially against DC's best bowler in Kuldeep Yadav. Conway smashed his third consecutive fifty in a row and laid a perfect platform for CSK to score big in the first innings.

The 30-year-old sent the ball over the boundary five times while hitting 7 fours as well. He missed out on a hundred as he was caught behind in the 17th over off Khaleel Ahmed. There were contributions from Shivam Dube (32 off 19) and MS Dhoni (21* off 8) as CSK posted 208 runs in their 20 overs.

Delhi, in the second innings, were bundled out for 117. Moeen Ali was the pick of the bowlers with figures of 4-0-13-3.

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#1. Mitchell Marsh - 89 off 52 vs RR

Prior to the IPL 2022 season, much was expected from ICC T20 World Cup winner Mitchell Marsh in his debut campaign with DC. However, after missing the initial games, he again missed a few matches due to COVID.

In the IPL 2022 encounter against Rajasthan, the Australian lived up to his great reputation and delivered an all-round show for DC.

After winning the toss and fielding first, DC dismissed dangerman Jos Buttler early. Skipper Rishabh Pant then handed the ball to Marsh, who took two wickets in three overs.

He first dismissed in-form Yashasvi Jaiswal before getting the better of Ravichandran Ashwin (50 off 38). Rajasthan were restricted for 160-6 from their 20 overs.

While chasing, the Capitals lost their first wicket in the form of Srikar Bharat for 0. This led Marsh to join his countryman David Warner at the crease and the two Australians marshalled their franchise to a resounding win.

Warner, uncharacteristically, played second fiddle as Marsh was the enforcer. The duo cautiously negotiated the powerplay, scoring just 38. However, after that, they scored 9+ runs from almost every over.

Where both batters hit five boundaries each, Marsh thumped 7 sixes compared to Warner's one. Marsh fell 11 runs short of a well-deserved hundred when he top-edged a Yuzvendra Chahal delivery in the 18th over. Warner remained unbeaten at 52* off 41 as DC won the game by eight wickets with 11 balls to spare.

Marsh was adjudged as Player of the Match for his two wickets and a belligerent 62-ball 89.