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Asia Cup team of the tournament – Power up top, many all-round options, and fire with the ball
Six last-over finishes, one century, one five-for, and plenty of thrills and spills – the Asia Cup 2022 had it all. A tournament that fights for relevance was in the end the perfect build-up to the T20 World Cup that will follow, and had a number of star performers to thank for it. The best of them figure in the ESPNcricinfo Team of the Tournament.
Kusal Mendis
Numbers:
155 runs at a strike rate of 156.56
He ended the tournament with back-to-back ducks, but played a big role in Sri Lanka’s inspired run to the final. He set the tone at the top of the order with his blazing strokeplay and firebrand approach to help scale down targets of 184, 176 and 174 against Bangladesh, Afghanistan and India respectively. That he has made a seamless switch from being a middle-order batter to an opener bodes well for Sri Lanka as they prepare for the T20 World Cup.
Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk)
Numbers: 152 runs at a strike rate of 163.44; three catches
Gurbaz provided a peek into his big-hitting abilities on the opening night when he blasted an 18-ball 40 in a small chase against Sri Lanka. Around a week later, also against Sri Lanka, he was at it again, when he laid the platform up top with a robust 45-ball 84 to set up a strong total batting first. He ended with a duck, against India, but it was good signs from a strong hitter up top.
Virat Kohli
Numbers: 276 runs at a strike rate of 147.59
Two half-centuries, and, finally, his first T20I century. Along the way, his century drought across formats, that had lasted 1020 days, ended. He started scratchily, but the fluency kept getting better with every passing innings. He ended the tournament second on the run chart behind Mohammad Rizwan and looked his dominant old self again.
Ibrahim Zadran
Numbers: 196 runs at a strike rate of 104.25
If Afghanistan proved there’s more to them than just their spinners and six-hitters, it was courtesy performances of the kind Ibrahim displayed. Normally an opener, he has had to adjust to a middle-order role, and provided the ice to the fire of the stroke-makers around him. His unbeaten 42 against Bangladesh was a big show of responsibility in seeing off a small chase, while knocks of 40 and 64* against Sri Lanka and India respectively were further proof of his evolution.
Bhanuka Rajapaksa
Numbers: 191 runs at a strike rate of 149.21
Only nine months ago, he had hastily retired from international cricket, only to be coaxed back. An IPL stint followed by a stream of decent scores all year round made him a key player for Sri Lanka. At the Asia Cup, he brought out a big performance on the big stage – the final – with Sri Lanka with their backs to the wall. From 58 for 5, his rescue act, along with Wanindu Hasaranga, took them to 170 for 6, which was then defended by a young line-up.
Dasun Shanaka (capt)
Numbers: 111 runs at a strike rate of 138.75; 2 wickets at an economy rate of 12
He rallied a young team through a tough phase and is now reaping the rewards. He also played a key role in delivering two key wins. The first was a 33-ball 45 in a chase of 184 against Bangladesh. And then, he went one better against India. First, his wickets of Suryakumar Yadav and Hardik Pandya denied India the finish they were looking for. Then he made a calm, unbeaten 18-ball 33 to take them home in the final over.
Mohammad Nawaz
Numbers: 8 wickets in six innings at an economy rate of 5.89; 79 runs at a strike rate of 143.63
His overs of no-frills left-arm spin gave Babar Azam some flexibility in the field to bring him on according to match-ups. With the bat, Nawaz proved to be more than a handful, especially in Pakistan’s win over India where he was essentially promoted to disrupt India’s two legspinners. He responded with a 20-ball 42 to script a win that helped them make a dash to the final.
Wanindu Hasaranga
Numbers: 9 wickets in six innings at an economy rate of 7.39; 66 runs at a strike rate of 150
He was a star with the bat in the final, and a star with the ball all tournament long. With him around, Sri Lanka didn’t need to worry about keeping batters quiet in the middle overs. He ended the tournament with back-to-back three-wicket hauls, but the impact performance was his 58-run partnership off just 36 balls with Rajapaksa that helped launch the big fightback. His nine strikes were the second-most in the tournament.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar
Numbers: 11 wickets in five innings at an economy rate of 6.05
It was far from a perfect performance, where his death-overs execution went awry more than once, but with the new ball, Bhuvneshwar was as good as they come. Like Afghanistan found out in the dead rubber when he uprooted their top order in a superb spell of 5 for 4. His impact performance, however, was in the tournament opener against Pakistan, when he combined with Hardik to set up victory for India by executing a sharp short-ball plan. He finished as the leading wicket-taker in the tournament.
Haris Rauf
Numbers: 8 wickets in six innings at an economy rate of 7.65
If opponents thought they could relax a bit after Pakistan’s relentless new-ball attack, Haris Rauf had reason to have a good laugh about it. He can be deceptive, especially when he hits hard lengths. He can combine that with serious gas, like he did in the final when he sent Danushka Gunathilaka’s stumps flying with a 151kph thunderbolt. His strengths lie in being able to bowl with pace and fire at all stages of an innings.
Naseem Shah
Numbers: 7 wickets in five innings at an economy rate of 7.66
The late curve into Mendis in the final, that snuck through to send off stump cartwheeling, was a small glimpse into the magical world of Naseem Shah. He swings the ball at a serious pace and has an excellent short ball to boot. With the bat, he reminded many of good old Javed Miandad when he hit back-to-back sixes to win a Sharjah thriller against Afghanistan.
The first truly heavyweight clash of this expanded T20 World Cup format comes freighted with both history and subplots. A rematch of the 2010 World T20 final at Kensington Oval, the match pits Jos Buttler’s defending champions – who are aiming to become the first team to retain the trophy – against the Australian winning machine, victors at the 2021 edition and current world title-holders in Test and ODI cricket. And that’s before you throw in the Ashes for afters.
Already there is added pressure on England, after the rain in Bridgetown led to a share of the points in their opener against Scotland (and that having conceded 90 runs from 10 overs without taking a wicket in a tepid bowling display). Lose to their oldest rivals and it will leave their Super 8 prospects open to being waylaid by the perils of net run-rate calculations, or worse.
The Scotland match was the third abandonment in five suffered by England, after a rain-affected home series against Pakistan, which has clearly hampered their readiness for this campaign after almost six months without playing T20 together. It does not take much for a side to click in this format – and England looked in decent shape when they did get on the field against Pakistan – but Buttler will be anxious for things to go their way on Saturday, if only to avoid further questions referencing the team’s disastrous ODI World Cup defence last year.
Australia, under the laidback leadership of Mitchell Marsh would love nothing more than to add to the English sense of jeopardy – having helped bundle them out of the tournament in India on the way to taking the crown. Their head to head record is less impressive in T20 however, with England having won six of the last seven completed encounters, as well as that 2010 final.
Despite a wobble with the bat, Australia avoided mishap against Oman earlier in the week, the experience of David Warner and Marcus Stoinis shining through in difficult batting conditions. Surfaces in the Caribbean – not to mention those games staged in the USA – have already had teams scratching their heads; rather than the “slug-fest” England had prepared for, following a high-scoring tour of the Caribbean in December, it looks as if boxing smart may be the way to go.
Speaking of Warner, this could be the last time he faces up against England in national colours – and another match-winning contribution would likely reduce the chances of them meeting again in the knockouts. On the other side of the card is Jofra Archer, fresh from an emotional maiden outing at Kensington Oval and ready to take on Australia for the first time in any format since 2020. Can Mark Wood fire up England’s campaign, as he did during last summer’s Ashes? Will Pat Cummins be back to harass the old enemy once again? Seconds out, it’s almost time to rumble.
Cummins is set to return after being rested for the Oman game, which saw Mitchell Starc leave the field with cramp. Starc is understood to be fine and could keep his place – which would likely see Nathan Ellis miss out. Marsh is still not fit to bowl, with Australia likely to continue with the allrounder combination of Stoinis and Maxwell to give them cover.
Australia (probable XI): David Warner, Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh (capt), Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Josh Inglis (wk), Tim David, Pat Cummins, Nathan Ellis/Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood
The one change England may consider is Reece Topley coming in for Wood, with the expectation that there will be some rotation among the seamers through the course of the tournament.
England (probable XI): Phil Salt, Jos Buttler (capt & wk), Will Jacks, Jonny Bairstow, Harry Brook, Liam Livingstone, Moeen Ali, Chris Jordan, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid, Reece Topley/Mark Wood
[Cricinfo]
Once is coincidence, twice is a clue, and three times is proof.
To paraphrase Agatha Christie, that is the narrative around South Africa’s meeting with Netherlands at this T20 World Cup.
The Dutch beat South Africa at the 2022 tournament and ended their semi-final hopes in a match where South Africa appeared to be sleep walking, and then beat them again at the 2023 ODI World Cup, where they exposed South Africa’s vulnerability in the chase. If they to do the treble, not only will Netherlands take the lead in Group D, but they will offer conclusive evidence of the threat they pose to Full Members, especially South Africa.
Of course, it will take some doing after South Africa’s opening performance against Sri Lanka, where they reduced their opposition to their lowest T20I total and chased it down in fairly straightforward fashion thanks to the most stable middle-order of their white-ball era. In Aiden Markram, Tristan Stubbs, Heinrich Klaasen and David Miller, South Africa have bankers and big-hitters and, for this match, they also have the advantage of experience. They’ve already played at Eisenhower Park, and have first-hand knowledge that run-scoring doesn’t come easily;Klassen said they are prepared to use their “cricket brains” and play “smarter cricket”.
But the conditions could be good news for Netherlands, who are not naturally a line-up of big hitters and build their innings on a foundation of turning ones into twos. In other words, they tend to take a slightly more conservative approach to batting, which may work well here, but they’ll be wary of the uneven bounce of the surface and will have to come up with plans to counterattack especially against South Africa’s seamers. Their own bowlers were exemplary in Dallas and will look to build on that performance against a line-up that will likely be more proactive than Nepal’s, but who they have managed to keep quiet not once, but twice in the past. Third time’s the charm, they say.
Anrich Nortje’s stunning return to form against Sri Lanka means South Africa may not have to tinker with the bowling combination, and Gerald Coetzee and Tabraiz Shamsi may have to wait their turns to get a game. The batting line-up should be unchanged, with no space for Ryan Rickelton yet.
South Africa: Quinton de Kock (wk), Reeza Hendricks, Aiden Markam, Tristan Stubbs, Heinrich Klaasen (wk), David Miller, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Ottneil Baartman, Anrich Nortje
Conditions in New York may tempt Netherlands to include an extra seamer and they have Kyle Klein in their squad. But it could come at the expense of a shortened batting line-up and they may not want to risk that.
Netherlands: Michael Levitt, Max O’Dowd, Vikramjit Singh, Sybrand Engelbrecht, Scott Edwards (capt, wk), Bas de Leede, Teja Nidamanuru, Logan van Beek, Tim Pringle, Paul van Meekeren, Vivian Kingma
[Cricinfo]
Nuwan Thushara’s last over brought Sri Lanka screaming back into the match,as he first bowled Rishad Hossain, and then nailed Taskin Ahmed in front of the stumps with a pinpoint swinging yorker. This left Bangladesh eight wickets down, with 12 runs still to get.
However, the experienced Mahmudullah was at the crease for Bangladesh, and despite some further nervy moments, pushed Bangladesh across the line off the last ball of the 19th over.
But this was a match chiefly decided by Bangladesh’s own outstanding bowling. Mustafizur Rahman was the best among them, using shorter lengths and his cutters efficiently, to claim figures of 3 for 17. Rishad Hossain’s three-for through the middle overs also kept Sri Lanka quiet.
Mustafizur was instrumental in Sri Lanka’s downward spiral through the middle overs, which culminated in a crash-and-burn end. Ultimately, their inability to find boundaries, or even rotate strike against good Bangladesh bowling resulted in their downfall. A score of 125 for 9 always seemed poor on a decent pitch, even if their bowlers made a match of it in the end.
Brief scores:
Bangladesh 125 for 8 in 19 overs (Towhid Hridoy 40, Litton Das 36; Dhanajaya de Silva 1-11, Nuwan Thushara 4-18, Wanidu Hasaranga 2-32, Matheesha Pathirana 1-27) beat Sri Lanka124 for 9 in 20 overs (Pathum Nissanka 47, Dhananjaya de Silva 21; Tanzim Hasan Sakib 1-24, Taskin Ahmed 2-25, Mustafizur Rahman 3-17, Rishad Hossain 3-22) by two wickets
[Cricinfo]
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