2014 World T20: Know the interesting facts

New Delhi: Sri Lanka finally broke the jinx and won the World T20 final by 6 wickets against India. Sri Lankan legends, Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawerdene, who were playing their last game of the format, ensured a picture perfect end of their T20 career.The 5th edition of the World T20, hosted by Bangladesh, has had some real ups and downs. It was not entertaining as much as compared to the previous editions. The main reason being there was lack of explosive batting display because of slow wickets.Take a look at some interesting facts about the tournament: There have been 7 occasions in a World T20 tournament where a team had passed the benchmark of 200. Surprisingly, 5 out of 7 double centuries in the World T20s were scored in the first edition that was conducted in South Africa and won by India. This edition of World T20 did not witness a single score of 200. The highest total that a team put up was 196 by the Proteas against the English side to knock them out of the tournament. The tournament had such a complex blend of low and high scores that it was difficult to decide whether the bowling was destructive or the batting was miserable.The World T20 2014 had the most numbers of below 100 scores as compared to the other editions. On 8 occasions, a team was unable to put a total 100 on the board. Teams like the Netherlands which chased down the huge target of 189 runs in 14 overs to qualify for the super 10, could manage 39, the lowest total of T20 history so far, against Sri Lanka. Pakistan beat the hell out of Australia in the do or die game and scored 191 runs but fell cheaply on just 82 runs chasing a target of 167 against the West Indies.Scores below 100: 39 – Netherlands (vs Sri Lanka)60 – New Zealand (vs Sri Lanka)69 – Hong Kong (vs Nepal)72 – Afghanistan (vsBangladesh)82 – Pakistan (vs Australia)85/8 – Ireland (vs West Indies)86 – Australia (vs India)88 – England (vs Netherlands)The Dutchmen were simply outstanding in the powerplays with the courtesy of Captain Peter Borren, Myburgh and Swartt. The Netherlands scored at a rate of an average of 8.89 runs per over in the powerplays throughout the tournament. Whereas, Pakistan had the worst run in the powerplays with the bat as they only scored at 5.54 runs per over.In the whole tournament, the 20th over of the innings has been the most successful as bowlers got 49 wickets and leaked only 425 runs.The batsman that led the runs tally in the tournament was none other than India's Virat Kohli. He seemed to have the form of his life and everything that he touched turned into gold. He stood the highest scorer with a huge lead of 88 runs. He scored 319 runs at an average of 106.33 with the strike rate of 129.14. He scored four half centuries in the 6 innings he played and was adjudged “player of the tournament.”The second and third highest scorer of the tournament was from the team Netherlands that impressed the critics and the fans most are Tom Cooper and Stephen Myburgh with 231 and 224 runs respectively.There was no bowler from Pakistan team in the list of top 15 wicket takers of the tournament. However, there were two Pakistani born bowlers that ruled the wicket taking list. Imran Tahir of South Africa remained the highest wicket taker of the tournament by picking up 12 wickets in 5 matches at an average of just 10.91. His economy rate was just above 6 and his best bowling figures were 4/21 against the Netherlands.The second highest wicket taker was from the Netherlands, Ahsan Malik played a vital role in the Netherlands' successful run, and he also hunted 12 batsmen in the tournament at an average of 13.83. His economy rate was also impressive with 6.68, his best bowling figures were 5/19 against the powerful South Africa.The World T20 also witnessed the highest number of stumpings in any tournament. The total was 21 and the wicketkeeper who did maximum stumpings (4) in single innings is Denesh Ramdin from West Indies against Pakistan.The World T20 2014 was an anxiously awaited tournament and it brought a million of smiles and also some tears to the cricketing fans. The World T20 2014 had a fierce battle between the bat and the ball, but, in the end it was cricket that won. Winning and losing is an inevitable part of the game, all the teams tried to bring out their best, but, it was Sri Lanka that stood tall victorious as they deserved.