T20 World Cup: Who’s Hot, Who’s Not?

Ongama Gcwabe brings you a detailed betting guide of the T20 World Cup including Stats Pack, Standout Players and overall winning trend at the World Cup.

The 2021 T20 World Cup has been nothing short of an amazing, enthralling and exciting tournament filled with entertainment. But one has to acknowledge the fact that this World Cup has not been what many had anticipated.

I mean, after sixteen Super 12 matches, there hasn’t been one team to have reached the 200-runs mark in an inning. There has been only three matches in which 300 plus runs have been scored, which is a feat that many will find shocking given the quality of batters in this tournament.

Nonetheless, the bowlers and fielding sides have had a great tournament so far. They have been superb in restricting big teams to relatively small scores.

Let’s break down teams that have been hot and those who have been poor at this World Cup.

Who’s Hot?

1.   Pakistan

2.   England

3.   New Zealand

4.   South Africa

Looking at the way the Groups stand at this stage , we have two semifinalists in England and Pakistan which have won three matches in a row, the other two teams which I predict will join them are South Africa and New Zealand which have been in great form.

New Zealand has three matches remaining, namely against Scotland, Afghanistan and Namibia. While South Africa will play Bangladesh and England in their two remaining matches.

Who’s Not?

1.   India

India were humiliated by a ten-wicket defeat to Pakistan, and an eight-wicket defeat to New Zealand in their first two World Cup Matches. They have taken two wickets in the tournament so far, despite having Jasprit Bumrah, Ravi Jadeja and Mohammad Shami at their disposal.

They went from being the best T20 team coming from the best T20 league in the world to being compared to the England football team which have the best football league in the world in the form of the Premier League but consistently fail to win trophies.

I personally don’t see them making it through to the semifinals mainly because of the makeup of their group. Pakistan is through, so there are four teams competing for one spot, essentially. New Zealand look favourites for that second spot should they beat Afghanistan who currently occupies that spot at the time of the writing of this article.

2.   West Indies

The West Indies have suffered a similar fate in this World Cup. Unfortunately, they have no one to blame but themselves for consistently batting poorly in this tournament. They have one win in three matches, a win against Bangladesh last week.

For a batting lineup that includes Chris Gayle, Kieron Pollard, Lindl Simmons and Evan Lewis to name a few, an average innings total of 113 runs per innings in this World Cup is just poor, to say the least, and is a testament of a team that has failed to deliver what they are known for, scoring big runs.

They have Sri Lanka and Australia up next this week as the Super 12 stage will come to an end. They might win but that won’t guarantee anything for them because England and South Africa seem to be solidifying the spots in the semis.

Stats Pack

Of the sixteen matches played in the Super 12 round, 13 of them have been won by the team fielding first. So, whoever wins the toss will choose to field first and they will stand a chance to win the match as compared to the team which lost the toss.

Only five scores of 150+ have been scored, two scores of 160+, two scores 170+, and one 190+ score by Afghanistan.

Most Runs

1.   Pethum Asalanka (SRI)

2.   Mohammad Mahmudullah (BAN)

3.   Mohammad Naim (BAN)

4.   Mushfuqur Rahim (BAN)

5.   Charith Asalanka (SRI)

The teams that have done well at this World Cup are teams that have bowled well by ensuring a small boundary percentage and a high dot ball percentage.

England’s Adil Rashid, Chris Woakes, Moeen Ali and Chris Jordan are all going at 6 runs an over in the tournament.  England have qualified for the semis.

Pakistan’s Harris Rauf, Shaheen Afridi, Shadab Khan and Imad Wasim all have economy rates of less than 7 runs an over.

Both Pakistan and England have qualified for the semis and they have one thing in common in terms of their performances – they have bowled well, restricted teams to low totals and were clinical in chasing those targets.

Who to Put Your Money On?

As the stats above clearly show, teams who bowl well win matches because it is harder to bat in the UAE than it was initially anticipated.

I am putting my money on Pakistan, England, South Africa and New Zealand to qualify for the semis because they seem to be the teams who have the conditions figured out and have the right bowlers to play in those conditions.

Super 12 Round: Players To Watch

1.   Babar Azam (PAK)

2.   Shaheen Shah Afridi (PAK)

3.   Jos Buttler (ENG)

4.   Moeen Ali (ENG)

5.   Anrich Nortje (SA)

6.   Aiden Markram (SA)

7.   Daryl Mitchell (NZ)

8.   Trent Boult (NZ)

Current Super 12 Group Standings.

GROUP 1

TEAMS                M   W   L   PT   NRR

1. England          3    3    0   6     3.948

2. SA                    3    2    1   4     0.210

3. Australia        3    2    1   4     -0.627

4. Sri Lanka       3    1    2   2     -0.350

5. West Indies   3    1    2   2     -1.598

6. Bangladesh     3    0    3   0     -1.069

GROUP 2

TEAMS                  M   W   L   PT   NRR

1. Pakistan           3    3    0   6     0.638

2. Afghanistan     3    2    1   4     3.097

3. New Zealand   2    1    1   2     0.765

4. Namibia            2    1    1   2     -1.287

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