T20 World Cup stats round-up: Openers struggle in fast-bowling paradise
Conditions have been challenging for batters in Australia, but the fielders haven't always supported the bowlers
Fast bowlers have recorded the best economy across editions in the ongoing T20 World Cup • Getty Images
Spinners have had a wonderful time too - their average of 20.92 is the second-best while the economy rate of 6.87 is third out of eight World Cups - but the heroes have been the quick bowlers. They have averaged 21.46 runs per wicket, 7.23 runs per over, and have taken a wicket every 17.8 deliveries. The economy is the best among all World Cup editions, while the other two numbers rank second, next only to the 2010 edition in the West Indies.
This has been a tough World Cup for batters in general, but even more so for the openers. They have averaged only 21.94, the lowest among all World Cups, while the strike rate of 115.66 is also the least. There have only been 16 fifty-plus scores in 112 innings by the openers so far, while 50 times they have been dismissed for single-digit scores. The openers have scored only 31.9% of the runs scored off the bat so far in this tournament, which is again the lowest among all editions.
In the previous T20 World Cup in the UAE and Oman, teams batting first won only 16 matches and lost 29, but the tables have turned this time around: teams batting first have a 16-11 win-loss record, which currently equals the best ratio in any World Cup - the 2009 edition also had the same win-loss record for teams batting first.
Sixty-two catches have already been dropped in the tournament so far, while 245 have been taken. That's a ratio of 3.95 catches taken per drop, which is much poorer than the previous edition, when 316 catches were taken and only 49 dropped.
S Rajesh is stats editor of ESPNcricinfo. @rajeshstats