New Delhi. After the T20 World Cup 2024 group matches are over, the batsmen have breathed a sigh of relief. There is a good reason for this. In these matches the bowlers had complete dominance over the batsmen. Almost 80 percent of the matches were low-scoring and even experienced batsmen were seen struggling for runs. In matches held in America many batsmen wound up on wickets with uneven bounce. However, this phase is over now. The Super 8 round of the tournament is likely to once again establish the batsmen’s ‘rule’ and put the bowlers on the ‘backfoot’.
The reason for this is that all the matches of the Super 8 round will be played at West Indies grounds where the wickets are more batting friendly as compared to America. However, spinners can also perform well on the slower wickets of the Caribbean islands. All the 12 matches of the Super 8 will be played on three grounds, two of which – Grass Islet and Bridgetown’s pitch are helpful for batsmen, so far the 200+ score has been made thrice and twice in the current tournament. Grass Islet and once Bridgetown have witnessed this. Apart from these two grounds, a Super 8 match is also scheduled to be held at North Sound. The Super 8 will begin today with the South Africa-America match (Group 2). The Indian team is scheduled to play its first match in this round against Afghanistan on Thursday in Bridgetown.
This time the run rate was the lowest in the T20 World Cup.
Talking about the group round of T20 World Cup 2024, this round could not give joy to the cricket lovers amid the ‘dominance’ of the bowlers. The tournament has so far disappointed fans who are used to seeing fours and sixes in T20 matches. 37 matches were played in the group round, three matches were lost due to rain. The run rate in these 37 matches was 6.71 which is the lowest ever. Earlier, runs were scored at an average of 7.43 in the 2021 edition under the shadow of Corona. The dominance of the ball over the bat in the current World Cup can be understood from the fact that no bowler scored more than 50 runs in any match. The most expensive bowling analysis was that of Dutchman Logan van Beek who conceded 45 runs in a four-over spell against Sri Lanka. So far no batsman has been able to score a century amidst this ‘famine’ of runs. Not only that, only 16 half-centuries have been scored so far which is an average of a little more than one every two matches.
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The ‘power’ did not show in the power play, the top 3 batsmen continued to struggle
Powerplay in T20 and ODI formats meant run scoring overs, but even during this period, barring a few matches, batsmen were mostly struggling for runs. The top 3 batsmen are the backbone of any team and are responsible for laying the foundation of the innings and scoring most of the runs, but this World Cup saw that assumption breaking down as well. The top 3 batsmen in the tournament averaged 18.19 and strike rate was 110.44, the lowest ever. Earlier, in the 2010 T20 World Cup, the top 3 batsmen averaged 23.73 and strike rate was 119.66. Coincidentally the host of this World Cup was also West Indies.
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38 madden overs till group matches only
In this bowler-dominated World Cup, 38 maiden overs have been bowled till the group stage, which is slightly less than the number of maiden overs bowled in any previous World Cup. Before this, 21 madden overs were bowled in 27 matches of the 2012 World Cup. England bowled the fewest madden overs (5) in 27 matches at the 2009 World Cup. With a maximum of 20 teams participating in this edition of the T20 World Cup, the number of matches has naturally increased.
8 of the tournament’s top 10 scores were produced on Caribbean grounds.
In the group round, the fast bowlers dominated the 13 matches played at three American venues (New York, Dallas and Florida). Out of the total wickets he took 125 wickets while the spinners took 34 wickets. Fast bowlers averaged 17.50 and economy 5.94 during this period, while spin bowlers averaged 24.79 and economy 6.86. The conditions for the spinners on the West Indies ground can be considered somewhat more favourable. Of course, in matches played on Caribbean islands, fast bowlers have taken more wickets than spinners, but the difference is not the same as on American grounds. Fast bowlers took 181 wickets and spinners took 116 wickets in the group matches here. During this period, spinners fared better than fast bowlers in economy. Fast bowlers averaged 17.52 and economy 6.87 while spinners averaged 19.46 and economy 6.61. The possibility of batsman dominance in the Super 8 round matches has also increased as 8 of the top 10 scores so far in the tournament have been produced on the Caribbean islands.
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It’s time for batters to ‘open their arms’
However, with Super 8 matches, it is time for batsmen to ‘open their arms’. It is hoped that in future matches in the West Indies, fans will see similar matches on ‘spotting’ wickets. In this ‘battle’ between bat and bat, a batsman with sportsmanship can dominate. Once most of the West Indies wickets were helpful for fast bowlers but now they have slowed down and are helpful for spin bowlers. In such a situation, the wrist spinner’s role could be crucial, with the possibility that the batsman will be in a ‘crucial role’ in the coming matches and fans eager to see fours and sixes will witness a ‘rain of runs’. .
Tags: ICC T20 World Cup, India vs Afghanistan, T20 World Cup, Team India, West Indies
First published: June 19, 2024, 15:15 IST