English six-hitters enjoy Indian appetiser before arrival of the main feast

TO SUGGEST that this year's Indian Premier League has been one in which bat has held the edge over ball would be like pointing out that the Wright Brothers had a little more joy than Icarus when it came to taking flight.

- Malik Ouzia

There has been not so much a generous flow of runs as a flood: eight of the franchise competition's 10 highest-ever totals set in the last month-anda-bit. Too much of a good thing, almost certainly, and too little balance, for sure.

English batters, though, have been tucking in with the best, the likely topfour for this summer's T20 World Cup defence all benefiting with displays that saw Tuesday's squad announcement for that tournament arrive with a fresh sense of optimism, and one not solely tied to Jofra Archer's potential return.

In the last week alone, Jonny Bairstow has rattled off an unbeaten hundred to lead a chase of 262 with eight balls to spare, while Will Jacks made another in reeling in 201 with four full overs still in reserve. Meanwhile, Jos Buttler, the captain, has a pair of red-ink tons to his name from earlier in the campaign and Phil Salt is now the tournament's fifth-highest run-scorer, striking at 180, having been picked up on the eve of it.