Why Rahul Chahar is the Smart Stats player of the match

Rahul Chahar's 2 for 26 and not Kieron Pollard's 47 off 20 was the most impactful performance of the match between the Mumbai Indians and the Kings XI Punjab, according to ESPNcricinfo's Smart Stats.

The Mumbai Indians won the match rather comfortably, by 48 runs, after putting up 191 for 4. Hardik Pandya also went after the Kings XI's less-than-demanding death bowling and, with Krunal yet to come, Smart Stats reckons that Mumbai would've put up a big enough total to make it difficult for Kings XI even if Pollard hadn't contributed as many as he did. So, Pollard's innings earns him 104.7 impact points, marginally lower than Chahar's 110.1.

Chahar, the young legspinner, took the all-important wickets of the Kings XI captain KL Rahul and the dangerous Glenn Maxwell while the game was still alive, snuffing out any chances of the Kings XI making a match out of it. In addition, Chahar's four overs went for just 26 runs, earning him impact points for his economy rate as well.

The Mumbai Indians captain Rohit Sharma got the third-highest impact score in the match for his 45-ball 70 and Jasprit Bumrah was at No. 4 for with 93.6 impact points. But why did Bumrah, who also took two wickets and was more economical than Chahar with an economy of 4.5 runs an over, get less value for his performance?

That is because in a one-to-one comparison, Chahar's wickets of Rahul and Maxwell were of much more value that Bumrah's two wickets of Mayank Agarwal and James Neesham. Moreover, Neesham was dismissed when the match was almost out of the Kings XI's hands with the asking rate climbing to almost 20 runs an over and an inexperienced lower-middle order to follow. The improbability of the chase being successful at that point was part of the reason for Bumrah's economical bowling towards the end not fetching him that many impact points.

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