Stats: A struggle for boundaries, a tournament of upsets, and England's pace highs
All the key numbers from the T20 World Cup in Australia, where ball trumped bat, and the Associate nations had a say
Sampath Bandarupalli14-Nov-2022Ball trumps bat
Favourable conditions for the pace bowlers, bouncy surfaces and massive boundaries contributed to the 2022 T20 World Cup being the second-slowest scoring edition. The tournament’s average run rate was 7.49, only behind the 2021 edition’s 7.43 hosted by the UAE and Oman. The bowlers took a wicket every 18.4 balls, the best among the eight editions of the T20 World Cup.
The batting average this time was 20.16, which was just ahead of the 2010 edition held in the West Indies, where the batting average was 20.13. The scoring rate in the death overs was 8.79 in this tournament, while each of the previous seven editions had a run rate of more than nine in this phase.A constant struggle for boundaries
One of the significant reasons for the low scoring rates throughout the tournament was the lack of fours and sixes. The large playing areas at some of the venues in Australia meant boundaries were hard to come by. The balls-per-boundary ratio in the tournament stood at 7.7, the highest among the eight editions of the men’s T20 World Cup.
Only 50.3% of runs scored by the batters in this tournament came through boundaries, the lowest in any edition of the T20 World Cup. It also resulted in a higher strike rate for non-boundary balls, as the batters often relied on finding the gaps and running hard between the wickets. A total of 102 threes were run in the tournament, more than twice the previous highest – 45 in the 2009 T20 World Cup.
Wristspinners finish on a high
There was little difference in how the fingerspinners and wristspinners fared in this World Cup. Offspinners and left-arm orthodox spinners collectively took 103 wickets at an average of 22.98, while the wristspinners – right-arm and left-arm – took a total of 64 wickets at 20.44. But both the variety of spinners had similar economy rates: 6.93 and 6.85, respectively.
However, there was a significant difference in their numbers towards the back end of the tournament. Across 14 matches played since November 1, the wristspinners returned 25 wickets at an average of 21.88, while the fingerspinners took 26 wickets but averaged a higher 27.53.
In October, even when there was lesser turn on offer, both finger and wristspinners had better success than on the weary tracks towards the end of the tournament. The offspinners picked 77 wickets at 21.44, while wristspin got 39 wickets at 19.51 from the start of the tournament on October 16 till the end of the month. This points out to a struggle of the fingerspinners in November, when the numbers of wristspinners also took a dip.A tournament of upsets
The major highlight of this World Cup was the lower-ranked teams getting the better of their more fancied opponents. Netherlands’ win against South Africa gave Pakistan a second chance, who themselves had lost to Zimbabwe earlier. The tournament began with 2014 champions Sri Lanka going down to Namibia. Scotland stunned two-time champions West Indies the next day, eventually costing them a spot in the Super 12s.
The Associate nations won four out of 11 matches against the Test-playing sides in this tournament. These are the most they have won in any edition of the men’s T20 World Cup. There were also a few close games in the seven they lost; two matches were decided within a margin of less than 20 runs, and the other two with less than ten balls to spare. This was clearly an improvement on the previous editions.The 2021 T20 World Cup had 15 matches where the Associate nations were matched-up against Full Members, and they ended up winning just two games – both during the first round. Among the 13 games won by the Full Members, six were by a margin of 45-plus runs and another five games by seven or more wickets or 25-plus balls to spare.England’s pace highs
The immense success of England’s pace unit was a major reason behind their triumph. Sam Curran was their lead fast bowler with 13 wickets, which also saw him take home the Player-of-the-Tournament award. England were by far the best side in picking wickets in the death overs. And barring the semi-final against India, they did not concede more than nine runs an over in the death in any other game throughout the tournament.,
England’s pace bowlers together claimed 38 wickets in the six matches played, the second-most by any team in an edition of the men’s T20 World Cup. Netherlands’ pacemen took 43 wickets in this tournament to top the list, having played eight matches. The bowling average of England’s pace bowlers in this tournament was 16.02, only behind South Africa’s 13.84 during the previous edition in the UAE.