Not every cricketer has been successful in the T20 format because of the inability to minimise the dot balls
Not every cricketer has been successful in the T20 format because of the inability to minimise the dot ballsWe are now engrossed in the third World T20 tournament and three IPL seasons have been completed so it's worth looking for trends and trendsetters in the shortest version of the game.
Firstly, let's look at what makes an ideal T20 team. Two vital ingredients are a successful opener and a prodigious hitter in the late overs. Part of Sachin Tendulkar's amazing late career revival has featured an extremely successful last IPL season. Much of his success can be attributed to keeping the dot balls to a minimum (37 per cent) and scoring more than half his runs in boundaries. This means, he maintains a high run rate by basically keeping the ball along the ground, thus reducing his chances of being caught.
Consequently, he accumulated a number of solid scores, making him the ideal type to anchor an innings. Not surprisingly, the highly successful Mahela Jayawardene employs a similar formula.
This contrasts with a top order batsman like Suresh Raina who also had a successful IPL season but took more risks. Raina scored about 25 per cent of his runs via the boundary clearing shot, which means when his timing is a little astray or his luck is out he's more likely to struggle than a Tendulkar or Jayawardene.
Albie Morkel capably fulfills the requirements for a late order hitter. His Kiwi destroying innings at Kensington Oval involved smashing balls out of the park in an arc so true it could have been mapped out using a theodolite.
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By hitting so straight, Morkel reduces the margin for error much the same as his fellow countryman Lance Klusener did in a golden patch during the 1999 World Cup. Incidentally, scored 40 per cent of his runs from sixes in the IPL so his formula is surprisingly consistent.
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| Sri Lanka's Mahela Jayawardene. Pic/AFP |
Ideal combination
Successful bowlers are harder to distinguish because even the best suffer some form of punishment. However, in conditions like those prevailing at Kensington Oval a pair of wicket-taking speedsters like Dale Steyn and Dirk Nannes are an ideal combination.
Not only are they right and left-arm bowlers but both take wickets regularly, produce a lot of dot balls and are difficult to hit for six.
The ability to take wickets with the new ball is crucial and is one reason why Australia and South Africa are early favourites for the World T 20 title. Spinners have quickly built a reputation for being vital components in a successful T20 side.
The ideal type is a wicket-taker who conjures up a high percentage of dot balls (around 50 per cent) and has batsmen caught in the outfield rather than in the back of the grandstand by a fan wearing an "I love sixers" T-shirt.
Not surprisingly Muttiah Muralitharan and Daniel Vettori rank high and Harbhajan Singh also rates well for the flexibility he provides. Harbhajan has no qualms about bowling with a new ball and only two men out and this makes him an extremely valuable commodity. The rest of the team card can be filled out with the likes of dashing opener Dave Warner who is also a brilliant outfielder. A floating middle-order batsman who hits the ball out of the ground, bowls tidily and fields well; a la Kieron Pollard. A thinking wicketkeeper like Mahendra Singh Dhoni who is also an extremely adaptable batsman. These are the style of players who make up a successful T20 side.
The average score for a T20 innings is in the 145-160 range. Consequently, batsmen who regularly maintain a run rate in excess of eight per over and bowlers whose economy rate is under seven are going to help win a lot of matches.
As the World T20 moves to the business end of the tournament, the teams that have made a strong impression both statistically and skill wise are Australia and South Africa. However, Sri Lanka is quietly lurking with Jayawardene, the in-form batsman guiding the way and an attack that relies more on variety than vroom.
England is an improved side but lacks one more reliable six hitter and India has much ground to make up after faltering against fast, short-pitched bowling. All that said, T20 cricket is renowned for surprises and temperament features strongly. Fortunately, there's no statistic for strength of mind.
