The biggest surprises of the T20 World Cup 2020 so far

The ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2020 in Australia has so far come with its fair share of surprises. Low scores, dominance of spin, India's outrageous form and Australia's struggles are a few things that have stood out.

Women's CricZone lists out a few of the most unexpected occurrences in the mega event so far.

Australia teeter on the brink

There’s been some rather nervous-looking Cricket Australia officials going about their business over the last couple of weeks. With the entire #FillTheMCG campaign relying on Australia reaching the tournament final on Sunday (March 8), the up-and-down performance of the home side hasn’t done the tournament organisers’ pulse rates much good.

First up was that loss to India, when Australia looked like they didn’t even know what leg spin was; two days later, they found themselves 10 for 3 against Sri Lanka, and were saved only by their opponents’ poor use of DRS. Despite talk from the team that they were fully back on track, their “virtual quarter-final” win against New Zealand on Monday (March 2) was far from convincing. Maybe the Aussies aren’t invincible after all?

Spin wins… Even at the WACA

Spin may be dominant in the women’s game, but if there’s one place you’d expect pace to win out, it would be the seamer’s paradise of the WACA. Not so. Of the 192.5 overs bowled across the five group matches staged at the ground, 120.1 of them were sent down by spinners; with spinners also taking 28 wickets against a tally of 25 taken by seamers. England, faced with a decision between playing quick bowler Freya Davies and leg-spinner Sarah Glenn at the ground, opted for Glenn. For all the talk of the women’s game needing quicker pitches to thrive, pace off seems to win the day no matter what. What’s a groundsman to do?

ALSO READ: Left is right for Australia

The high DRS success rate

As it stands, DRS is only available to most women’s teams every two years at World Cups, with boards unprepared to shell out for its use during bilateral series. It would make sense, therefore, if use of the review system across this tournament had been universally poor. In fact, across the 20 group stage matches, the success rate stands at 44%, with 14 out of 32 reviews seeing the original decision overturned. Three teams - Australia, Pakistan and West Indies - have actually gone through the whole tournament (so far) without making a single unsuccessful review. Not bad going given that Stafanie Taylor admitted that West Indies had not practiced its use at all back home before arriving in Australia.

Bates' blunders

The ICC’s most recent player rankings, released in February, had New Zealand’s Suzie Bates firmly occupying the No. 1 batting spot. Before this tournament began, she was the top run-scorer ever in the history of the T20 World Cup. And yet across 4 innings in the tournament she hit just 48 runs in total, with a highest score of 15. It just goes to show that even the best players can’t turn it on all the time.

Laura Wolvaardt becoming a finisher

Since her debut in 2016, South Africa’s Laura Wolvaardt has spent most of her international career as an opener, with a strike rate of well below 100. In the last T20 World Cup in 2018, she made scores of 4, 8 and 4 before being dropped for the final match. She isn’t someone you would naturally associate with the ability to finish an innings big for her side. And yet, against Pakistan, that’s exactly what she did: clobbering three boundaries off the last three balls of the innings, to finish unbeaten on 53 off just 36 balls. “It's been quite a journey for me,” she said afterwards, in typical understated fashion.

ALSO READ: Laura Wolvaardt and the art of powerless bludgeoning

England ditching their strategy

Heather Knight was vociferous in defence of her team’s controversial 8-batsman strategy after their loss to South Africa in their opening game, saying - effectively - that there would be no compromise, and that Tammy Beaumont would continue to bat at 6, come what may. It was something of a surprise, then, to realise at the start of England’s game against West Indies that Beaumont was padded up to open, while Winfield had been dropped in favour of an extra bowler, Mady Villiers. Ditching a strategy which you have hung your hat on halfway through a tournament in response to media criticism seems strange, to say the least.

Thailand winning more than just hearts

Before the action got underway, much of the coverage surrounding Thailand’s inclusion in this tournament focused (slightly patronisingly) on a smiley group of players who would win over people’s hearts - but not any actual matches. It didn’t take long for Sornnarin Tippoch’s team to show just what a misconception that was: reducing West Indies to 27 for 3 in their opening match, and giving the former world champions a real scare in the process. Only rain kept them from what would have been a memorable maiden World Cup win in their final match. “It’s a game we want people to remember us by,” Tippoch said of her side’s 150-run onslaught against Pakistan in that encounter. “We made a statement about how we can play cricket.”

Poonam Yadav topping the bowling charts

There’s been a clear standout performer amongst the bowlers so far this tournament, but it isn’t who you might have thought it would be beforehand. India’s 4 ft 11 leg-spinner, Poonam Yadav, has so far claimed 9 wickets at an economy of 5.6. Her starring role has come despite a lack of recent match practice - Poonam having missed the tri-series which preceded the World Cup due to a finger injury - and despite the fact that she has been playing with her non-bowling hand still wrapped in bandages.

ALSO READ: Generous flight, wrong 'uns key to tiny Poonam's huge stature

The lack of one-sided matches

It’s been a perennial problem for women’s cricket that in years gone by, it has been possible to predict the outcome of most World Cup matches well in advance. This tournament seems to have upended that sense of predictability, with South Africa overcoming England, Pakistan beating 2016 champions West Indies, and Sri Lanka giving Australia a good run for their money (to name just a few examples). At a time when there are fears that the women’s game is becoming less competitive thanks to countries like Australia and England having more professional, better-resourced set-ups in place compared with the rest of the world, the uncertainty running through this tournament is something we should welcome.