Ability to minimise dot balls crucial in T20
Updated On: 09 May, 2010 04:09 AM IST | | Ian Chappell
Not every cricketer has been successful in the T20 format because of the inability to minimise the dot balls
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Not every cricketer has been successful in the T20 format because of the inability to minimise the dot balls
We 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.
We 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.
u00a0
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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