Perfect balance was the key for England

After the first couple of matches in their campaign, it didn't look like England would go much further in the World Cup. They were unlucky to lose to West Indies, and then struggled a bit in getting past Ireland. Once into the Super Eights, though, all aspects of their game clicked superbly, especially in the final where they overwhelmed Australia, who had until then looked like the best team in the tournament. England's openers and Pietersen were fantastic in the big games and the bowling attack didn't have a weak link. The table below shows how England's performance improved from the early stages to the second half of the tournament.

The two most impressive aspects of their game were their top-order batting and the varied bowling attack. England's opening batsman Craig Kieswetter and their No.3 Kevin Pietersen were prolific throughout. England's superiority in this regard was a major factor in their victory. Australia had a patchy tournament with some good starts, but the openers missed out in the big games. The absence of Indian and South African batsmen in the list shows how poor the top orders of these two teams were in the big games.

Unlike most teams, England did not have any weak link in the bowling attack. The fifth bowler of most teams went for plenty, and more often than not, this proved to be crucial in the overall context of the match. Shane Watson and Mohammad Hafeez proved to be a major liabilities in their team's otherwise strong bowling attack. Ravindra Jadeja had a forgettable tournament and his bowling figures were ruined in the game against Australia. Michael Yardy, on the other hand, had a very good tournament even though he went for plenty in the final.

Apart from England's strong performances, another pleasant surprise was the display of the fast bowlers throughout these two weeks. Before the tournament began, it was anticipated that they would struggle on the slower tracks, but the pitch, especially in Barbados, offered plenty of pace and bounce, and the fast men did pretty well in other venues as well.

Compared to the last two editions this tournament was a better one for fast bowlers. Spinners enjoyed a successful time, but not as much as in the previous tournament. Saeed Ajmal and Steven Smith did well, while Graeme Swann bowled with excellent control and had an economy rate of less than seven runs per over.

The table below summarises the overall batting performance of teams across the three World Cups. The batting average has gone down a touch and the scoring rate also has fallen slightly over the three tournaments. More helpful bowling tracks and bigger grounds have contributed to better bowling figures in the 2010 edition.

The batting performances during the Powerplay overs in the three editions of the T20 World Cup is summarised below. The 2010 edition has seen a drastic fall in scoring rate and the number of wickets falling in the first six overs has also increased.

In the last six overs the run rates and batting averages were pretty similar to the last two editions. Australia were the exceptional team during this period, scoring at the rate of 11.13 per over in the final six overs.

Of the three grounds in which the tournament was played, St Lucia produced the highest run rate, of 9.03 runs per over. The Kensington Oval in Barbados provided excellent support to fast bowlers, but also assisted batsmen who were willing to play the horizontal-bat shots. The matches in Guyana were mostly rain affected and the pitch there was not quite conducive for run scoring.

Despite both the semi-finals and the final being won by the team chasing, batting first was more productive overall in the 2010 tournament. Most of the games in the group stages and the Super Eights were won by the team batting first. Both India and South Africa lost the two games when they chased in the Super Eight stages and were eliminated from the tournament.