Strange Things Continue at the World Twenty20
Last week I highlighted some strange, or rather the more intriguing, performances we witnessed during the round stages of the ICC World Twenty20.
Here's a look at some at the conclusion of the Super 8 stage.
- Pakistan are the only survivors from the 4 teams that reached the semi finals in the 2007 World Twenty20. A lot of traits are associated with the team; consistency is not one of them.
- England, a team not known to be good at T20 cricket, beat both the finalists of the 2007 World Twenty20 in this year's competition.
- Jacques Kallis, who was not considered good enough for 20-20 cricket and was also dropped from South Africa's squad for the 2007 tournament, is the 3rd highest run scorer this time round - 174 in 4 innings at an average of 58.00.
- Kamran Akmal has the highest dismissals for a wicket keeper - 8; he is also the leading run scorer among wicket keepers - 128 in 5 innings at 28.00. In a tournament involving Sangakkara, McCullum, Dhoni, and Boucher, that is surely one of the most intriguing performances.
- Younis Khan, who was never thought of as a batsman suited for the 20-20 game, is the leading run scorer for Pakistan - 148 in 5 innings. He is also among the top 10 run scorers, his average, 49.33, is the 4th best in the competition, and he has scored at a more than decent strike rate of 140.95!
- Last week there were 28 bowlers who had an economy rate of below 7; at the end of the Super 8 stage, 3 more have joined that list. All that in a format known to be one for the batsmen!
- Brett Lee still tops the list for the worst figures in the competition, 4-0-56-1.
- The leading wicket takers are a Pakistani pacer and a Pakistani spinner, followed by a Sri Lankan pacer and spinner, followed by a South African pacer and spinner. What are the West Indies doing in the semi finals? Read #9.
- Two fielders at the top of the list of most number of catches are from a team that is not known for its fielding - West Indies. Namely Andre Fletcher, 6, and Sulieman Benn, 4.
Who says this 20-20 cricket is not exciting?
This World Twenty20 has turned the cricket world upside down and thrown a number of surprising, if not shocking, performances our way.
Any bets that the semi finals and final would be any different? Stay tuned for more twists and turns I say!
The individual performances by Pakistan have been surprising. I think people still favor South Africa and Sri Lanka, but the stats show that they could be in for a surprise from the Pakistan team.
Q,
This format lends itself to such statistics which I think is great.
Even before the tournament, we had a number of our players in the top batting and bowling standings for international t20.
The English claim to have invented t20, but it was being played on the streets of Pakistan long ago. This may go some way in explaining our success.
Great stuff Q! Loved the post.
Krish,
Stats always speak a different story. Lets c how it goes down tonite.
Stani,
Thats true.. 20-20 has been played in Pakistan since the mid 80s - that all famous annual Ramadan 20-over cricket tournament produced many a cricket for Pakistan.. both Moin Khan and Rashid Latif made their name playing in that very tournament.
Cheers Sledge!