Read the original post on Fuel for Debate

Read the original post on Fuel for Debate

Read the original post on Fuel for Debate

In our previous article we picked the best individual performances at the World Twenty20. This time round, we identify the players who performed well consistently throughout the tournament and pick the best eleven of the tournament- the Dream Team. One caveat before we begin our selection- we are looking at players who have participated in at least four matches, long enough for them to have shown consistency over a number of matches. Here is the World Twenty20 2009 Dream Team.

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Tillakaratne Dilshan Batsman
Runs: 317
Strike Rate: 144.7
Castrol Index: 81
An easy selection to begin with- Dilshan was the stand out batsman of the tournament scoring nearly 100 more runs than his closest competitor.

Jacques Kallis All Rounder
Runs: 238
Strike Rate: 126.6
Wickets: 3
Economy Rate: 7.1
Castrol Index:76
The South African all-rounder showed he can perform at the highest level even in the shortest form of the game finishing as the tournament’s second highest run scorer and leading South Africa’s charge to the semis.

Shahid Afridi All Rounder
Runs: 176
Strike Rate: 140.8
Wickets: 11
Economy Rate: 5.3
Castrol Index: 89
Another easy pick- Afridi was miserly with the ball throughout the tournament, picked up regular wickets, and came through with the bat in the big matches. Probably the best Twenty20 player in the world at the moment!

AB de Villiers Wicketkeeper
Runs: 186
Strike Rate: 155.0
Castrol Index: 60
AB was consistent with the bat and the tournament’s best fielder- his stock as a cricketer has risen tremendously over the past twelve months.

Lendl Simmons Wicketkeeper
Runs: 150
Strike Rate: 137.6
Castrol Index: 64
The young West Indian had a great run with the bat and was also handy with the ball, picking up 6 wickets including a four-for against Sri Lanka. He edged out the likes of Kevin Pietersen and Yuvraj Singh for this spot.

Kumar Sangakkara Wicketkeeper
Runs: 177
Strike Rate: 108.6
Castrol Index: 36
Not a great tournament with the bat by his standards. Still, he up with a gritty performance in the final, was the best keeper-batsman in the tournament and admirably led his side throughout the competition; which rightfully earns him a place in the Dream Team.

Dwayne Bravo All Rounder
Runs: 154
Strike Rate:145.3
Wickets:10
Economy rate:8.8
Castrol Index: 74
Stellar contributions from Bravo helped the West Indies make the final four- he delivered with bat and ball including a super all-round display against India at Lord’s.

Saeed Ajmal Bowler

Wickets: 12
Economy rate:5.8
Castrol Index: 59
The Pakistani off-spinner played a pivotal role for his side, keeping it tight in the middle overs and frustrating batsmen into making mistakes.

Ajantha Mendis Bowler

Wickets: 12
Economy rate:5.5
Castrol Index: 55
The mystery bowler ended with the highest bowling efficiency score among all players who participated in at least four matches. That means based on bowling alone, Mendis was the best of the lot and he makes it in the Dream Team.
Roelof van der Merwe can consider himself unlucky to miss out on, but Ajmal and Mendis get the nod ahead of him. Barely!

Umar Gul Bowler

Wickets: 13
Economy rate:6.4
Castrol Index: 52
The tournament’s highest wicket taker established himself as the best death bowler in the game. It’s remarkable that he went at just six and a half runs an over considering he often bowled at the end of the innings.

Wayne Parnell Bowler

Wickets: 9
Economy rate:5.7
Castrol Index: 53
Parnell rounds up our Dream Team. He was the best bowler with the new ball and turned in match winning performances against the West Indies and England.

In our previous article (hyperlink here) we picked the best individual performances at the World Twenty20. This time round, we identify the players who performed well consistently throughout the tournament and pick the best eleven of the tournament- the Dream Team. One caveat before we begin our selection- we are looking at players who have [...]

We witnessed a number of great individual performances at the ICC World Twenty20. Which ones were the best? The Castrol Index helps us figure out by measuring the value of each and every performance with bat and ball. Here are the star exploits from the tournament. Best Batting Scores S No Player Runs Strike Rate [...]

sri lanka’s progress in this tournament is a great advertisement for bowlers in t20 cricket. with a slightly shaky batting line up that is over-reliant at the moment on the top 4 they have marched into the final without losing a game. but now they will come up against a side to whom their bowling [...]

sri lanka’s progress in this tournament is a great advertisement for bowlers in t20 cricket. with a slightly shaky batting line up that is over-reliant at the moment on the top 4 they have marched into the final without losing a game. but now they will come up against a side to whom their bowling isn’t a great mystery and who possess a well rounded bowling side themselves.

sri lanka are riding a wave of confidence but will be a bit worried about the fact that they have been propped up by the great form of tillekaratne dilshan. sanath jayasuriya isn’t looking in great form but he is one of the finest big game players and if he plays with freedom in the final, he could give sri lanka the runs they need for their bowlers.

both sides like to bat first and while the toss isn’t that important in t20 normally (it was at trent bridge where, quite frankly the wickets weren’t suitable for a tournament of this nature), on the big day you want to score runs first. it means a great deal for both sides to win this and there will be the extra, difficult to account for, factor of pressure. if sri lanka have to bat second and lose a couple of early wickets pakistan will fancy their chances.

but then you just can’t tell with pakistan. afridi might fire a quick 50 or pop the first ball up in the air. that is why the return of razzak is so important for them. it allows them to bat till no 8 and absorb a few early losses. i have also noticed that shoaib malik is playing a lot of shots early on and maybe the mandate is that younus and misbah will handle a crisis if it arises and that the top three, especially akmal and afridi, will be given the licence to play the big shots.

pakistan are looking the more rounded side but they have to play two opponents; sri lanka and themselves. by contrast the lankans have only to play pakistan.

Harsha Bhogle

Two teams remain with a shot at being crowned champions at the World Twenty20. The Castrol Index scores indicate that Sri Lanka has been the best team in the tournament so far with Pakistan surprising all with their high octave performance in the semi-finals. A deeper look at the Castrol Index helps us understand why [...]

The Kennington Oval is a batting paradise but the wicket slows down considerably under the lights. A 45-run difference between the average first innings and second innings score at this venue may emerge as a key to the strategists of West Indies and Sri Lanka. Average 1st Innings score Average 2nd Innings score 1st innings [...]

The Kennington Oval is a batting paradise but the wicket slows down considerably under the lights. A 45-run difference between the average first innings and second innings score at this venue may emerge as a key to the strategists of West Indies and Sri Lanka.

Average 1st Innings score
Average 2nd Innings score
1st innings wicket fall
2nd innings wicket fall
Spinners
Pacers

180
135
6.8
6.2
36
78

The high scoring nature of this wicket will help both Sri Lanka and West Indies. Secondly, traditionally the Oval wicket is very balanced as out of the 10 T20 Internationals played here, 5 of them are won by team batting first.

So what should a captain do? Chase a target or defend a total? Let’s weigh the options.

Considering the hard hitting ways of batting in both the sides, an average first innings total of 180 or more would be the ideal start that both the teams will be looking at. According to Castrol Index, Sri Lanka has won 80% of its matches batting first with a par score of 161 and a Batting Momentum (BM) of 215.

What is more bothering, however, is that the average second innings score at the Oval is around 135. The 45 runs difference between the two innings, coupled with Sri Lanka’s bowling prowess may land West Indies in trouble should they decide to chase here. The three main Windies’ bowlers – Bravo, Taylor and Edwards – have given away around 9 runs per over in this tournament, which translates to around 110 runs in the 12 overs they bowl. In contrast, the Lankan trio of Mendis, Murali and Malinga concede only 75 runs in their 12 overs. This difference of 35 runs is a huge savings in a T20 International. Will Sri Lanka be better off defending a total on this wicket then?

Now let’s see the options favourable to chasing:

• Gayle and other Windies’ batsmen are in great form and have proved that they are great chasers. They have to score at least 35 runs more off the Lankan Three M’s to offset any calculation
• The Oval wicket offers fewer opportunities to bowlers in the second innings
• 80% of the wickets at the Oval are captured by pacers – a big plus for the Windies which is packed with fast bowlers. But they have to be disciplined and should not give away extra runs.

West Indies have proved earlier that they are good chasers at the Oval. Will they take the chance again at the Oval?

Twenty-twenty matches in Trent Bridge are a bit skewed in favour of the team batting first. Castrol Index analyses the International T20 matches played at the venue and throws the question what’s the best decision to take after winning the toss – bat first or bowl first? According to Castrol Index, 56% of the matches [...]

Twenty-twenty matches in Trent Bridge are a bit skewed in favour of the team batting first. Castrol Index analyses the International T20 matches played at the venue and throws the question what’s the best decision to take after winning the toss – bat first or bowl first?

According to Castrol Index, 56% of the matches played on the Trent Bridge pitch have been won by teams batting first. South Africa has won all its matches played on the Trent Bridge pitch.

Trent Bridge
Batting Momentum
Average Runs Scored
Bowling Efficiency
Total Wickets

Batting First
251
174
238
54

Batting Second
163
131
269
60

The table above reflects an interesting fact. Teams batting first have scored more runs at the cost of more wickets than teams batting second on their way to win the matches. Batting first, teams have been able to put an average of 174 runs losing at an average of 6 wickets while teams bowling second have taken an average of 6.5 wickets while scoring only 131 runs. The analysis reflects the slowness of the wicket which deteriorates within a matter of 20 overs.

South Africa would be aware of this curious nature of the pitch here as they have played twice here and won both the times. Interestingly, for South Africa, batting first or batting second matter the least. In this tournament, they have just won every match till now, batting first or second.

But for Pakistan, it is for the first time they will play on this wicket in the tournament. Pakistan plays better cricket when they bat first as reflected in the table below.

Pakistan’s Performance in 2009 ICC T20

Pakistan
Batting Momentum
Average Runs Scored
Bowling Efficiency
Total Wickets

Batting First
207
167
338
19

Batting Second
142
123
223
22

In view of the above, what would be skipper Younis Khan’s decision of if he wins the toss?

The saying goes- Well begun is half done. That has held true at the ICC Twenty20 World Championships where getting off to a good start has been supremely important and has played a big role in determining match results. The Quick Start Batting, or the QS Bat, is a metric in the Castrol Index that [...]

Team India is out of the 2009 Twenty20 World Championship after consecutive defeats against the West Indies and England. It was the first time the Men in Blue were really tested in the tournament and they didn’t look up to scratch. So what went wrong for the Indians in the Super 8 stage? For one, [...]

Eight teams are vying for four semi-final spots at the current stage of the 2009 Twenty20 World Championships. Theoretically, all teams should be in with an equal shot of making it, assuming all sides are more or less equal. But that is not the case and we now have one group more stacked than the [...]