IPL 8: Moises Henriques shows he is probably the best allrounder this year

Five matches back, there was no doubt that the contest for Indian Premier League (IPL) 2015’s best allrounder was between Andre Russell of Kolkata Knight Riders and Dwayne Bravo of Chennai Super Kings. Then Sunrisers Hyderabad’s Moises Henriques decided to throw his name into the hat with some remarkable performances. Henriques’ innings of 57 from just 22 balls, and bowling figures of two for three, against the Royal Challengers Bangalore last night may have been in vain after Virat Kohli and Chris Gayle stole the show with some ruthless batting, but it is because of those performances that the match turned out to be so thrilling. [caption id=“attachment_2247584” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Moises Henriques smashed 57 from 22 balls. Sportzpics[/caption] Henriques came in at No 3 after Shikhar Dhawan’s early departure and it was his blistering innings that set up Sunrisers’ initial total of 135 from 11. After the game had been reduced to six overs and the target to 81, Henriques dismissed Gayle and AB de Villiers off consecutive deliveries to put his team right back into the mix after Gayle had blasted RCB to 41 for no loss after two overs. With Bravo’s performances falling off a bit with the bat, Henriques has rapidly risen in the stakes to claim the No 1 allrounder’s tag. The only other player to have done equally well in batting and bowling is Russell. Here’s putting it into numbers: With the ball, Henriques has taken 11 wickets at an average of 12.81, an economy rate of 6.40 and a strike rate of just 12.0. Russell has taken 11 wickets too – at an average of 26.54, an economoy of 7.96 and a strike rate of 20.0. As for batting, Henriques has scored 276 runs at an average of 46 and a strike rate of 143.75. He’s also got a couple of fifties under his belt. Russell meanwhile, has 289 runs at an average of 36.12 and a strike rate of 193.95. He’s got three fifties. But here’s the catch — Henriques has played four matches fewer than Russell and for a team which is supposedly weaker than two-time champions KKR. He’s clearly doing better than Russell with the ball and is just 13 runs behind the West Indian despite playing a significantly fewer games. Henriques has shown he can be very reliable in a 20-over-a-side match and brutal when it’s cut down to 11 overs-a-side too. Bravo is having a brilliant season with the ball for Chennai Super Kings and Russell has clearly been KKR’s best player, but Henriques is probably the best allrounder in the tournament.