By The Numbers: Southee the captain slayer, Rauf's death-over expertise

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Southee’s 100

New Zealand seamer Tim Southee entered his name in the record books with the wicket of Pakistan captain Babar Azam in Sharjah. It was Southee’s 100th wicket in T20 Internationals, making him the third man to reach the milestone after Sri Lanka’s Lasith Malinga (107 wickets) and Bangladesh’s Shakib Al Hasan (117).

The 32 years old completed his century of wickets in his 84th T20I, the first of which was against England in Auckland in 2008. His first victim in T20Is was also a captain – England’s Paul Collingwood. Southee has dismissed captains 15 times. The only bowler who has accounted for more captains in T20Is is Shakib (16).

Rauf’s death bowling

Pakistan speedster Haris Rauf has been exceptional in the death overs in this World Cup. He has bowled four overs (two each against India and New Zealand) in the last five overs (16-20) of the innings, and conceded only 21 runs, one boundary and taken 4 wickets.

Haris’ career economy is 7.89 and has 23 wickets in overs 16-20 in T20Is, the most by any bowler since his debut in this format in January 2020. Overall, he has 33 wickets in T20Is, the second-most in the last couple of years and only behind Tabraiz Shamsi (38).

The Rawalpindi-born pacer made his debut against Bangladesh in Lahore in 2020 on the back of a fine season with Melbourne Stars in the Big Bash League. He grabbed 20 wickets in that season for the Australian club and was playing as a replacement for Dale Steyn who is also his idol.

Mujeeb’s five

Afghanistan off-spinner Mujeeb Ur Rahman took the first five-for of his T20I career against Scotland in Sharjah and opened Afghanistan’s campaign in the Super 12s with a victory. At an age of only 20 years and 211 days, he is the second youngest bowler to take a five-wicket haul in ICC Men’s T20 World Cups. The youngest is Bangladesh’s Mustafizur Rahman who was 20 years and 202 days when he produced 5 wickets for 22 runs against New Zealand in Kolkata in 2016.

Mujeeb is only the eighth bowler with 5 wickets in an innings in Men’s T20 World Cups. The previous seven before him were: Mustafizur (Bangladesh), James Faulkner (Australia), Rangana Herath (Sri Lanka), Ahsan Malik (Netherlands), Lasith Malinga (Sri Lanka), Ajantha Mendis (Sri Lanka) and Umar Gul (Pakistan).

The five ducks

Scotland’s five batters – Calum MacLeod, Richie Berrington, Matthew Cross, Michael Leask, Bradley Wheal - were dismissed for naught during their 60 runs all out debacle against Afghanistan in Sharjah. It was second time in this tournament and only the third time in ICC Men’s T20 World Cups history that an innings has had five or more ducks. Kenya holds the unwanted record of six ducks in an innings against New Zealand in Durban in 2007.

Earlier in the tournament, five Netherlands batters – Ben Cooper, Ryan ten Doeschate, Scott Edwards, Roelf van der Merwe, Brandon Glover – also got out without scoring a run against Ireland in Abu Dhabi. All five got a first-baller.

England’s aggressive intent

The number one ranked team in ICC’s men T20I Rankings England have registered two thumping victories in the tournament. They chased a target of 125 with 35 balls remaining against Bangladesh in Abu Dhabi and 56 with 70 balls to spare against West Indies in Dubai. The two wins have earned them four points and a Net Run Rate of +3.614.

Since the end of the last ICC Men’s T20 World Cup in India in 2016, England have played 52 matches with a batting run-rate of 8.78 – the highest for any Full Member nation in the world. India are next with 8.65 and New Zealand third 8.64. Zimbabwe (7.41) have the lowest run-rate for any Test playing nation.

The mix-ups

Bangladesh captain Mahmudullah was once again found involved in a run-out against England in Abu Dhabi. His partnership with Afif Hossain was ended by a fielding effort from Tymal Mills and Jos Buttler. It was the 25th time Mahmudullah had his partnership broken with a run-out in T20Is. No batsman in the world has been involved in more mix-ups. Ross Taylor (20 involvements in run-outs) is second on the list.

Namibia’s success story

Namibia, who are playing in an ICC Men’s T20 World Cup for the first time, started the Super 12s stage with a win against Scotland in Abu Dhabi. It was also their third consecutive victory after heaving beaten Ireland and Netherlands in the preliminary stage.

Since the start of 2019, when the ICC approved T20 International status for 20 overs games between all Associate Members, Namibia have won 21 men’s T20Is, the second most in the world and only behind England (24).

Namibia (21 wins in 26 matches) have a win percentage of 80.77 – the second-highest in men’s T20Is among the teams who have played at least 10 matches since 2019. Romania (15 wins in 17) is the only country with a higher win percentage (88.24). There are 106 nations with T20 International status – 12 Full and 94 Associate Members.