From Adam Zampa’s five-for to Mohammad Rizwan and Babar Azam creating history at the top order, we look at the most intriguing T20 World Cup stats in FTX By the Numbers.
Semi-Finals
Following their 20-run defeat at the hands of Sri Lanka in Abu Dhabi, West Indies are out of the semi-finals race of ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021. It will be the first time in over ten years that the Caribbean stars won’t be in action in the knockout stage of the T20 World Cup.
West Indies featured in the semi-finals of the last three editions of the tournament in India (2016), Bangladesh (2014) and Sri Lanka (2012). The last time they couldn’t make it to the semis was when they hosted the event in 2010.
As of now, Pakistan are the only team who are officially in the semi-finals. That happened after their 45-run win against Namibia in Abu Dhabi. They are also the only team to reach the semi-finals on five occasions in ICC Men’s T20 World Cup.
Zampa’s five-for
Australian leg-spinner Adam Zampa registered the best bowling figures of ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021 by accounting for 5 wickets for 19 runs against Bangladesh at Dubai International Stadium.
Zampa is the second bowler, after Afghanistan’s Mujeeb Ur Rahman (5/20 against Scotland in Sharjah), with a five-for in the ongoing tournament.
Before Zampa, the only Australian with a five-wicket haul in a Men’s T20 World Cup was James Faulkner (5/27 against Pakistan in Mohali in 2016).
As a result of Zampa’s five-for, Australia bowled out Bangladesh for 73 and chased the target with 82 balls remaining – their biggest win in the T20 World Cups. The thumping win also took Australia’s NRR (1.031) above South Africa (0.742).
Hasaranga’s record
Sri Lanka had a disappointing campaign (two wins in five games in the Super 12s) but they can draw comfort from Wanindu Hasaranga’s performance in the tournament. The leg-spinner took 16 wickets, the most any man has taken in one edition of a T20 World Cup.
He broke the record of his countryman Ajantha Mendis, who had pocketed 15 wickets in the 2012 edition of the tournament.
Hasaranga, with 36 scalps, is the leading wicket-taker in T20Is in 2021. A key factor behind his rise to number one position in the ICC T20 Rankings.
Ducks
It has been a challenging World Cup for Bangladesh batters as they finished the tournament with two collapses and were bowled out for 84 against South Africa in Abu Dhabi and 73 against Australia in Dubai.
In the Super 12 round, nine times their batters got out without scoring – the most by any team in the tournament proper. In the game against South Africa, Soumya Sarkar bagged the 10th duck of his T20I career. The only batter with more ducks in men’s T20Is is Ireland’s Kevin O’Brien (12 zeroes in 103 innings).
Pakistan is the only team without a duck in the Super 12 stage thus far.
The first 200
It took 33 matches to witness the first 200-plus score in the tournament with India amassing 210 against Afghanistan in Abu Dhabi and registering their first win. Before that, the highest total was 190 by Afghanistan against Scotland in Sharjah.
It was India’s second-highest total in the T20 World Cup history and only eight runs short of their record 218/4 against England in Durban in 2007 – the match that is widely remembered for Yuvraj Singh’s six sixes off an over of Stuart Broad.
The comeback
India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin had an unforgettable comeback to T20 Internationals as he dismissed two batters for 14 runs against Afghanistan. The 35-year-old is a permanent member of India’s Test side but was playing his first T20 International since June 2017. His last T20I wicket had come even a year before – against West Indies in Florida in 2016.
Ashwin missed 65 T20 Internationals between his two appearances in 2017 and 2021. The only Indian player who has made a comeback after missing more men’s T20Is is Sanju Samson (73 matches).
The World Cup regulars
Bangladesh have played 33 matches in ICC Men’s T20 World Cups and one player didn’t miss any of those. The game against Australia in Dubai was Mushfiqur Rahim’s 33rd consecutive appearance for Bangladesh in the tournament history levelling with India’s MS Dhoni (33).
Only two men have featured in more consecutive games in the T20 World Cups – Pakistan’s Shahid Afridi (34 matches between 2007 and 2016) and Sri Lanka’s Tillakaratne Dilshan (35 games in the first six editions of the tournament).
Partnership makers
Pakistan’s prolific opening pair Mohammad Rizwan and Babar Azam stitched together a 113-run opening stand against Namibia in Abu Dhabi becoming the first pair in Men’s T20I history to score a 100-run partnership on five occasions.
It was the second time Babar and Rizwan reached a 100-run stand in the tournament as they had also put 152 in their team’s 10 wickets win against India in Dubai.
Babar, who is back at number one in the ICC T20 Rankings, scored third half-century (70 off 49 balls) of the tournament against Namibia. He is the only captain with three 50s in one edition of ICC Men’s T20 World Cup.
(Source and courtesy: https://www.t20worldcup.com/)