Is 2022 the best T20 WC edition for Associate Members?
The 2022 ICC T20 World Cup is turning out to be a blockbuster event with full of twists and turns. It has truly been a roller-coaster right from the first game where Namibia stunned Sri Lanka. The tournament has recorded three other upsets ever since. Interestingly, Associate members now have the most wins against Full Members in a T20 World Cup.
Why does this story matter?
All Full Members (12) have the right to play official Test matches and are automatically qualified to play ODIs and T20Is. On the other hand, Associate nations don't attain full-member status automatically. They go through qualifiers to participate in ICC tournaments. Notably, Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, and Ireland started as Associate Members. The 2022 T20 WC saw the rise of Associate nations.
Associate nations script history
As per Wisden, the first four T20 World Cup editions recorded only two wins of an Associate Member over a Full Member (Netherlands beat England and Ireland beat Bangladesh, both in 2009). There were three such wins in 2014, while the 2016 and 2021 editions registered two each. In 2022, Associate nations registered four wins over Full Members, the most in an edition.
Namibia trounce Sri Lanka
Namibia beat Sri Lanka by 55 runs to slam a thunderous start to the 2022 T20 World Cup. It was also their maiden win over SL in 20Is. Batting first, the Gerhard Erasmus-led side piloted to 163/7. Jan Frylinck (44) and JJ Smit (31*) were the architects of the same. Later, SL were down to 21/3 in the Powerplay, eventually losing the bout (108/10).
Scotland stun West Indies
Scotland stunned West Indies at Bellerive Oval, Hobart. The 2016 T20 World Cup champions lost by 42 runs, failing to chase 161. Mark Watt took three wickets, while Brad Wheal and Michael Leask picked two apiece. Earlier, George Munsey slammed an unbeaten 66. Scotland's 42-run win is the joint-second-biggest (by runs) by a team against West Indies in the men's T20 WC.
Netherlands stun Zimbabwe in Adelaide
Netherlands thrashed Zimbabwe in the Super 12 clash at the Adelaide Oval. They chased down 118 after bowling the Zimbabweans. Max O'Dowd scored a match-winning fifty. Paul van Meekeren snapped up three wickets, while Bas de Leede, Brandon Glover, and Logan van Beek took two each. Only Sean Williams and Sikandar Raza managed to score in double figures for Zimbabwe.
The biggest upset of 2022 T20 WC
In one of the biggest upsets of the ICC World Cup, South Africa were handed a 13-run defeat by Netherlands. The Dutch side put up a stunning show as the tournament witnessed yet another unexpected result. SA failed to chase down 159 and subsequently got eliminated from the semi-final race. With this result, India were assured of a berth in the semis.
Arguably the best T20 WC edition
As per Wisden, the 2022 T20 World Cup has had 28.9% close matches, the most in an edition. Notably, 2014 is the only other edition to have crossed the 25-percent mark in terms of close matches.
