New-ball misers: the powerplay's most economical bowlers
Computed from ball-by-ball data · last refreshed 16 June 2026
In the shortest format, the powerplay is where matches can slip away in a hurry. With only two fielders allowed outside the circle during overs one to six, batters are free to swing hard knowing the boundary ropes are poorly guarded. That is precisely why bowlers who can throttle the scoring in those field-restriction overs are so highly prized — and this list of the most economical men's new-ball operators (minimum 500 legal balls in the powerplay) shows exactly who does it best.
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Topping the chart is Sunil Narine, whose economy rate of 6.12 across a hefty 3,006 deliveries is a staggering feat of control, made all the more valuable by his 108 powerplay wickets. Matching that 6.12 figure is Veerasammy Permaul, though over a smaller sample of 562 balls with 23 wickets.
Binura Fernando sits next at 6.17 from 899 balls, with 43 scalps to his name. Then come the Pakistan pace and spin names that have long specialised in the opening overs: Mohammad Amir (6.23, 138 wickets from 3,250 balls) leads a trio tied on 6.28 alongside Mohammad Hafeez, Mohammad Sami and Sohail Tanvir, the latter accounting for 92 wickets over 2,568 deliveries.
Nuwan Kulasekara (6.30), Nahidul Islam (6.33) and Bhuvneshwar Kumar round out the top ten. Bhuvneshwar's 6.37 across 3,635 balls — the largest workload here — and his 138 wickets underline the rare combination of volume, miserliness and strike power.
What ties these names together is the ability to deny batters early momentum. Containing in the powerplay forces risk later, when fielders spread out, and a quiet opening spell often sets the tone for the entire chase or defence. These ten have mastered that art.
Coverage & definitionsCricsheet ball-by-ball · T20 internationals between full-member nations (2005–) and 11 major T20 leagues · data through 13 October 2026Show ▾
Source. Ball-by-ball data from Cricsheet. New matches are loaded from Cricsheet twice a day (10:00 and 22:00 UTC), typically a day or two after a match is published there.
Internationals. T20 internationals are included only when both teams are ICC full members. Fixtures against Associate nations (e.g. Netherlands, Scotland, Nepal, USA) are not in the dataset, so international totals for players who faced them are lower than their full career figures.
Leagues. Leagues: IPL, BBL, PSL, CPL, SA20, MLC, ILT20, BPL, LPL, WBBL, WPL — full history of each. Domestic T20 competitions outside this list (e.g. the Blast, SMAT, Super Smash) are not included.
Exclusions. Super overs are excluded from every total. The dataset has no playing-XI record, so match appearances can't be counted. A match where a player neither batted nor bowled is not reflected anywhere in their figures.
- Dot ball — a legal delivery (no wide or no-ball) from which no runs were scored, including byes and leg-byes.
- Economy — runs conceded per six legal balls bowled.
- Inns (bowling) — innings in which the player bowled at least one delivery. Matches where they did not bowl are not counted.