da dobrowin： A statistical preview to the ICC World Twenty20
da supremo： Madhusudhan Ramakrishnan29-Apr-2010Going by past record alone, Pakistan are the firm favourites to lift the ICC World Twenty20 (if there can be anything called favourites in a format as fickle as this). They won the tournament last year, were the finalist in 2007, and have a much better overall record in 20-over cricket than any other side.South Africa come closest to them, and in fact have a better win-loss ratio in the World Twenty20, but they’ve lost out in crucial games – to India in 2007, and to Pakistan in the 2009 edition. Australia, on the other hand, have a good record overall but a very poor one in World Cups. India, after a closely fought win over Pakistan in the 2007 final, have not had a very good time in the Twenty20 format. They have won just five and lost seven of the 12 games played since their victory. Sri Lanka, the finalists in 2009, are the only other team with a win-loss ratio of more than two in World Cups.
TeamT20 Matches playedMatches wonMatches lostwin-loss ratioT20 World Cup matches playedMatches wonMatches lostWin-loss ratioPakistan302273.14141033.33South Africa261791.8811924.50Australia2915121.258350.60Sri Lanka2515101.5012933.00New Zealand3313170.7611560.83England2510140.7110370.42India201081.2512641.50West Indies218110.728350.60Bangladesh143110.277160.16ZImbabwe8340.752111.00In a tournament which has been dominated by teams from the subcontinent, it’s hardly surprising that players from India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka have been the most successful. Among the top eight run-scorers in World Twenty20s so far, only two are from non-subcontinent teams.Gautam Gambhir and Mahela Jayawardene are entering the tournament after fine performances in the IPL, while Yuvraj Singh needs to lift his game considerably to regain the form that made him a top batsman in this format. Chris Gayle didn’t do much in the IPL, but he has been extremely dangerous batsman in this format and home conditions lend him an even greater advantage. Yuvraj and Gayle are also the top two six-hitters in World Twenty20 matches: Yuvraj has struck 21 sixes, while Gayle has 18.
BatsmanMatchesRuns ScoredAverageStrike rate10050Tillakaratne Dilshan1238242.44140.4403Gautam Gambhir1237534.09120.9604Kevin Pietersen933236.88157.3402Sanath Jayasuriya1233127.58132.9303Mahela Jayawardene1231331.30136.0802Chris Gayle731051.66151.9612Yuvraj Singh1130133.44172.0003Misbah-Ul-Haq1430042.85132.7402The bowlers from the subcontinent have been the most successful in this tournament so far. Shahid Afridi and Lasith Malinga are among the top wicket-takers, but the most successful bowler in the competition will be missed: Umar Gul has 26 wickets at a superb average of 12.03, but is out of the World Cup due to a shoulder injury.Spinners have proved to be far more effective at curtailing the scoring rate in Twenty20 internationals, and they’re likely to be even more in demand in the West Indies, where pitches are likely to be slow. The tables below summarises the performance of fast bowlers and spinners in the Twenty20 World Cup and in all Twenty20 internationals so far.
Type of bowlerRuns ConcededEconomy rateWickets takenAveragePace104627.8640525.22Spin45087.0820421.65
Type of bowlerRuns ConcededEconomy rateWickets takenAveragePace266597.57109324.39Spin104466.7551720.20One of the key aspects in the tournament will be the ability of batsmen to limit the number of dot balls they play. In the Twenty20 World Cup matches so far Afridi leads the way while Kevin Pietersen and MS Dhoni also have extremely low dot ball percentages. On the other end of the table, though, are the big hitters like Gayle and Sanath Jayasuriya, who prefer the big shots to the singles. The fact that they’re openers, and hence bat when field restrictions are on, also increases the number of dots.
BatsmanBalls facedDot ballsPercentage of dot ballsShahid Afridi2675230.40Kevin Pietersen3326530.80MS Dhoni2406732.05Misbah-Ul-Haq3007934.95Jacques Kallis2386635.10Tillakaratne Dilshan3829936.39AB de Villiers2366237.12Yuvraj Singh1756537.13Brendon McCullum2469237.39Mahela Jayawardene3139039.13Rohit Sharma2196739.88Gautam Gambhir37512941.61Kumar Sangakkara28111142.36Owais Shah2097944.13Kamran Akmal2328645.50Herschelle Gibbs2247946.47Sanath Jayasuriya33112248.99Chris Gayle31010149.50Graeme Smith24310850.23As you’d expect, the ones with the high dot balls are also the ones who score a majority of their runs in boundaries. Gayle and Jayasuriya top the table with close to 70% of their runs in boundaries. Dhoni, on the other hand, scores just 38% of his runs in boundaries, which, coupled with an extremely low dot-ball percentage of 32.05, gives ample illustration of his batting style.
BatsmanTotal RunsRuns in boundariesPercentage of runs in boundariesChris Gayle31022070.96Sanath Jayasuriya33122868.88Yuvraj Singh30120267.10Herschelle Gibbs22414464.28Graeme Smith24315664.19Kevin Pietersen33220461.44Tillakaratne Dilshan38223461.25Brendon McCullum24614458.53Rohit Sharma21912657.53Jacques Kallis23813657.14Gautam Gambhir37520855.46AB de Villiers23613055.08Mahela Jayawardene31317254.95Kamran Akmal23212654.31Shahid Afridi26714253.18Owais Shah20910851.67Misbah-Ul-Haq30015451.33Kumar Sangakkara28113046.26MS Dhoni2409238.33The inaugural edition of the tournament witnessed plenty of high scores, but the totals came down when the competition shifted to England, with a significant drop in the number of 200 plus scores. The West Indies have hosted only four Twenty20 internationals so far, and if the scores in those games are anything to go by, the average score in his edition will be even lower. The average runs per over in these four games has been 6.44, which is far lower than the corresponding figures of 7.99 and 7.62 for the tournaments in 2007 and 2009.
TeamScoreOppositionVenueSri Lanka260/6KenyaJohannesburgIndia218/4EnglandDurbanSouth Africa208/2West IndiesJohannesburgWest Indies205/6South AfricaJohannesburgEngland200/6IndiaDurban
TeamScoreOppositionVenueSouth Africa211/5ScotlandThe OvalNew Zealand198/5IrelandNottinghamSri Lanka192/5West IndiesNottinghamEngland185/5PakistanThe OvalSouth Africa183/7West IndiesThe Oval