The game changers of the T20 World Cup

With many results going in favour of the underdogs, the 2022 T20 World Cup has been a tournament to remember. The tussle between bat and ball has been absolutely fascinating and the uniqueness of the conditions has just added to the fun. It has been a very closely-contested tournament that has seen pre-tournament favourites like Australia, and South Africa getting knocked out. 

T20 is a different ball game in Australia. You can't regularly score 200 there. It's one of the toughest places in the world to hit boundaries. You can't go bang bang from ball one.

And with the newly constructed Kookaburra white ball doing a little bit more than it used to do before, batting at the start has been a tough job. So, there haven't been many high-scoring games with the average run rate being 7.46 so far but the contests have been thrilling. 

The Business Standard takes a look at some of the significant numbers of the Super 12 stage of the World Cup which will give a clear idea about the best performers in the tournament. 

Batting leaderboard 

Virat Kohli's match-winning unbeaten 82 against Pakistan against Melbourne was one of the greatest innings in the history of T20 World Cups and the Indian superstar once again proved his worth at the big stage. He has been the highest run-getter of the tournament with 246 runs from five innings at an average of 123. Kohli has hit three half-centuries in the tournament and his strike rate is also a shade under 140.

Kohli's compatriot Suryakumar Yadav has been in the form of his life. This has been his first tour of Australia as an international cricketer and the flamboyant batter from Mumbai has already played some unbelievable knocks. Yadav has 225 runs from five innings in the Super 12s and the strike rate of 193.96 has been comfortably the highest.

Bowling leaderboard 

Although South Africa did a South Africa on the last day of the Super 12s to see themselves knocked out of the tournament, Anrich Nortje had a spectacular tournament. He was one of the fastest bowlers of the tournament and it was really tough to score off him on those fast pitches. Nortje picked up 11 wickets (including two four-fors) in the tournament at an economy rate of just 5.37. 

India pacer Arshdeep Singh is having a tournament to remember. His bowling both with the new ball and at the death has won praise from many greats of the game. He's just behind Nortje in the list with 10 wickets. Sam Curran has the only five-for in the tournament and the all-rounder also has 10 wickets to his name. Pakistan vice-captain Shadab Khan is in the mix as well with 10.

Quickest scorers

New Zealand and South Africa were the only teams to break the barrier of the 200-run mark in the tournament. The Black Caps have comfortably been the fastest-scoring team in the competition (8.88). A lot of credit for this goes to Finn Allen who had a strike rate of 189.58 in the Super 12s, only behind Suryakumar's tally of 193.96 (minimum 40 balls faced).

India and South Africa were jointly the second fastest-scoring side in the tournament proper with a run rate of 8.42. Rilee Rossouw and Quinton de Kock both had strike rates of 160-plus but it didn't matter in the end for the Proteas.

Prolific power players

South Africa once again top the list with a run rate of 7.76 per over in the first six overs. England, one of the four semi-finalists, are the second team on the list (7.40). 

Three fast bowlers - Taskin Ahmed, Arshdeep Singh, and Lungi Ngidi - picked up five wickets each in the powerplay. Among these three, Taskin has the best economy rate inside the first six overs (5.33).

Finn Allen has faced all of his 48 balls in the tournament inside the powerplay and his strike rate of 189.58 was by far the highest during this phase (minimum 30 balls faced). Rossouw features in this list as well with a powerplay strike rate of 160.

Middle-over mavericks 

Australia, who were knocked out of the tournament purely because of their heavy loss in the tournament opener against New Zealand, were the quickest scorers in the middle overs (9.07 runs per over). New Zealand, interestingly, are behind them in the list with 8.39. 

Suryakumar Yadav has been toying with the bowlers ever since he set foot in Australia and his strike rate in the middle overs (180.59) was again the highest in the tournament (at least 60 balls faced). Marcus Stoinis, who hit the fastest fifty in the tournament against Sri Lanka, is the second name on the list (176.92).

All of Shadab Khan's 10 wickets in the World Cup came in the middle phase and he has been a terrific weapon for Babar Azam and Pakistan. All-rounders Hardik Pandya and Mitchell Santner have seven wickets each in this phase. 

Death-over demolishers

Often in T20s, the performance in the slog overs (17-20) determines the result of the match. India have been the most prolific team in the tournament and quite naturally their ball striking has been noteworthy in the tournament during this phase. They scored 10.96 runs per over at the death which is better than any other team in the tournament. They have, of course, two of the fastest death-over hitters in the tournament - Suryakumar Yadav (strike rate 237.83) and Virat Kohli (234.28). 

England have been brilliant at the death as a bowling unit, conceding only 6.2 runs per over during this phase. Unsurprisingly, Sam Curran (economy rate of 4.8) is the most economical bowler in the tournament at the death (minimum five overs). 

Haris Rauf conceded two sixes against Virat Kohli in that high-octane India-Pakistan clash but since then, the fast bowler was hit for no sixes at the death and had a slog-over economy rate of 6.5 in the Super 12s.