by Rex Clementine
You tend to believe that in order to be successful in T-20 cricket, you need to either have a strong domestic league (IPL, Big Bash League or Caribbean Premier League) or you need to have several big hitters. Despite not having any of these, Sri Lankans have gone onto dominate T-20 World Cups. There have been seven editions of the T-20 World Cups so far and the lions have reached finals on three occasions. No other team has reached three finals.
They have also gone onto show that brutal bower is not the only thing that win you matches. Touch players like Mahela Jayawardene have had a massive impact in the shortest format of the game. In fact, Mahela is the only player to have scored 1000 runs in T-20 World Cups. West Indian great Chris Gayle is the second highest scorer with 965 runs to his credit.
India’s Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli need 155 and 157 runs respectively to complete 1000 runs in World Cups.The highest partnership for any wicket in T-20 World Cups also belongs to the Sri Lankan pair of Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene. The two former skippers, who share many World Records, added 166 runs for the second wicket against West Indies in Barbados in 2010.
Ajantha Mendis has made several strong batting units eat humble pie with his mystery spin and Zimbabwe had no clue against him in the 2012 edition as he picked up six wickets for just eight runs. That’s the best bowling figures in the history of T-20 World Cups.
In the 2014 edition, in the must win clash against New Zealand, a virtual quarter-final, Sri Lanka took a gamble by bringing in left-arm spinner Rangana Herath and the Kiwis collapsed as they were bowled out for 60 runs, their lowest in T-20 cricket. Herath was unplayable with his five wickets costing only three runs. That’s the second best bowling figures in T-20 World Cups.
Making his maiden appearance in a World Cup, Wanindu Hasaranga was quite handful last year in UAE as he became the highest wicket taker of the tournament with 16 scalps. That’s the most wickets by a bowler in a T-20 World Cup. He in fact broke the record of Ajantha Mendis, who had claimed 15 wickets in 2012.
Sri Lanka’s total of 260 for six against Kenya in 2007 is the highest total in a World Cup innings. The lowest total recorded in World Cups is 39 by Netherlands in 2014 and the team that bowled them out was Sri Lanka. The record for the biggest victory margin of 172 runs is also owned by Sri Lanka.Sri Lanka have a winning percentage of 63.5, the highest by any team in World Cups.