T20 CWC 2022: Venue Analysis
From 22nd October 2022, the clash of capturing the T20WC battle begins. Australia, the defending champions will be hosting T20 WC for the first time. It was supposed to happen in the year 2020, but due to the COVID pandemic, it has been postponed. The matches will be played across 7 venues. ICC has announced 5 new rules for T20I which will be applicable from October. So, in this T20 WC, we can witness, how teams will use rules like Impact Player strategically. The grounds in Australia are huge, so hitting boundaries need good timing. We can see more twos and threes.
The Toss Factor
In the maiden T20I WC, 62.5% of teams elected to field first after winning the toss. It seems the trend has changed since 2014. Teams winning the toss, choose to bowl first. In 3 consecutive WCs viz 2009, 2010, and 2012 teams decided to bat first after winning the toss. In 2014 and 2021, the chasing percent crossed 70.
Melbourne Cricket Ground(MCG)
World cup fixtures: India vs Pakistan, England vs Ireland, New Zealand vs Afghanistan, Afghanistan vs Ireland, England vs Australia, India vs Zimbabwe
In MCG, 15 T20I games have been played. Though overall matches the par score is 126, in 2022 it increased to 140. MCG is one of the grounds which favors the chasing team. 64.28 percent of the matches were won by the team chasing. The finger spinners can contain the runs when compared to pace and wrist spin bowlers. As MCG is the largest ground in Australia, strike rotation can be easy. Around 40 percent of runs are scored by rotating the strikes. The average number of balls to score a boundary and being dismissed are 8 and 19 respectively. 42 percent of the runs in MCG are scored in boundaries. 73.2 percent of the wickets in this venue is taken by pace bowlers followed by finger spinners of 18.3 percent.
Adelaide Oval
World cup fixtures: Zimbabwe vs Netherlands, India vs Bangladesh, New Zealand vs Ireland, Australia vs Afghanistan, South Africa vs Netherlands and Pakistan vs Bangladesh
In Adelaide, 5 T20I matches has been played. The last match was played here at 2019. The run rate in this venue is pretty good with 7.51. In this venue, the economy rate of pace and wrist spin bowlers is around 8. The economy rate of finger spinners is 6.68. Though the economy rate is high for pace bowlers, around 64 percent of the wickets are taken by pace bowlers. The team batting first has the upper hand to win the matches. The par score in this venue is 153. The average number of balls to score a boundary and being dismissed are 6 and 20 respectively. 55.15 percent of the runs here are scored in boundaries.
The Gabba
World cup fixtures: Bangladesh vs Zimbabwe, Australia vs Ireland, Afghanistan vs Sri Lanka, England vs New Zealand
Till date in Gabba 6 T20I matches have been played. Out of 6 matches, 4 matches won by the team batted first. The par score in this venue is 149. In 2022, only one match have been played. In that match, Australia batted first and scored total of 178, the chasing team West Indies just managed to get 147 runs on their board. In this venue, wrist spin bowler can play a vital role in controlling the flow of runs. The average number of balls to score a boundary and being dismissed are 7 and 20 respectively. 72.54 percent of the wickets in this venue are taken by pace bowlers. Around 52 percent of the runs are scored in boundaries.
Perth Stadium
World cup fixtures: England vs Afghanistan, Australia vs Sri Lanka, Pakistan vs Zimbabwe, Pakistan vs Netherlands and India vs South Africa
Perth Stadium which is also known as WACA, is one of the fewest venues in Australia with par score of more than 150. In 2022 recently this ground hosted a match since 2019. In that match, 408 runs have been scored with 18 sixes. The wrist spinners economy rate is 13.2. 90.9 percent of the wickets in this venue were taken by pace bowlers with an economy rate of 7. In 2 games both batting first and batting second teams won once. In 2019 just 215 runs were scored in the entire match. 55.29 percent of the runs are scored in boundaries. The average number of balls to score a boundary and being dismissed are 8 and 32 respectively. Among the venues in this WC, strike rotation percent is low at 32.18.
Bellerive Oval
World cup fixtures: Sri Lanka vs Ireland, Bangladesh vs Netherlands and South Africa vs Zimbabwe
T20I match has not been played here since 2018. 3 T20I matches have been played in this venue with a gap of 4 years between each match, the first match was played in 2010, the second match in 2014, and the third match in 2018. This venue has the most par score compared to other venues in this WC of 167 runs. From 3 matches played, 2 matches were won by the team batting first and 1 match was won by the team batting second. The economy rate of all types of bowlers is similar to each other. 39 percent of the runs scored here are by rotating the strike. Around 60 percent of the runs are scored in boundaries. In this venue, 69 percent of the wickets were taken by pace bowlers, followed by 26.19 percent of wickets taken by finger spin bowlers. Six runs were scored in this venue for every 17 balls which are the minimum number of balls in Australia.
Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG)
World cup fixtures: New Zealand vs Australia, South Africa vs Bangladesh, India vs Netherlands, New Zealand vs Sri Lanka, Pakistan vs South Africa, England vs Sri Lanka
The first match in Super 12 stage will be played here. In overall stats, the par score of this venue is 147. In 2022, two matches have been played here and still par score is more or less similar only. Bowlers can get more support from this venue as the economy rate of all types of bowlers is around 7 and 8 respectively. Out of 11 matches, 5 matches were won by the chasing team. This venue ranked second in T20 WC for an average number of balls to go for a maximum is 23 balls, next to Bellerive Oval. Around 61 percent of the wickets are taken from pace bowlers. Both finger spinners and wrist spinners are sharing similar percentages of the wickets taken in this venue.
Conclusion
The stage is set for the big event. Though factors like venue and toss have some impact on the match results, in the end, it’s all about which team shows more grit and determination. But, winning the toss and choosing to chase the target will be a safe option for all the teams. Also, hoping Rain Gods shows some mercy on cricket fans and we get to see the full 40 overs for all matches.