Team of the group stage – Zimbabwe
The story of the T20 World Cup so far. Zimbabwe have been simply brilliant, storming into the Super Eight as one of the four unbeaten sides of the group stage. Not only did the African team defeat former champions Australia, they thoroughly outplayed them – losing only two wickets and taking all 10.
They put in a similarly emphatic performance against co-hosts and in-form Sri Lanka, completing a comfortable win by six wickets. Their batting and bowling are equally well suited for subcontinent conditions and captain Sikandar Raza is front and centre of their efforts with ball and bat. Look like a well-oiled machine with highly efficient technicians.
Best batter – Pathum Nissanka (SL)
It is not often that you get a technically proficient batter smashing at over 150 in a World Cup. On the one hand, World No 1 T20 batter Abhishek Sharma has three ducks to his name in the tournament.
Sri Lankan opener Nissanka, on the other, has 199 runs from four innings at a strike rate of 156. His unbeaten century while chasing 182 against Australia was a masterclass of late acceleration after a steady start. One of the rare Sri Lankan opening batters to also have a hefty IPL contract, underscoring his quality in the shortest format.
Best bowler – Varun Chakravarthy (Ind)
India are not allowing Varun Charavarthy to finish his quota of overs. Otherwise, could have had more than nine wickets in four outings. His economy is just above five runs an over, which shows no one has attempted to go after his mystery spin.
Has easily been the most dependable bowler for India in T20s and constitutes nearly half of the team's bowling prowess – the other being Jasprit Bumrah. If wickets continue to help spin, Charavarthy will remain on top.
Favourites – India
Unbeaten so far, largely comfortable wins and yet to reach their top level. Sure, the hat-trick of ducks for opener Abhishek has unsettled the top order but the rest of the line-up is making up for it.
Bowing rests heavily on Bumrah and Charavarthy but those eight overs are rock solid. If Abhishek lasts six overs, could well be game over. Defending champions are unbeaten since last tournament and just know how to win T20 matches.
Biggest disappointment – Australia
Where to even begin. Bunch of players missing, kept their best batter – Steve Smith – in the shed even when they were short on numbers and are outplayed by Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka forcing an early exit.
Surely the era of superstars such as Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Starc and Smith is coming to an end – at least collectively. The Aussies looked like a team that has not taken T20 Internationals seriously for a very long time.
Danger team – South Africa
Unbeaten in the group stage and look good to go all the way once again. South Africa have developed a taste for ICC knockout stages and also have a world trophy (Tests) as a source of inspiration.
The large part of the core that took them to the 2024 T20 World Cup final and Test crown last year is here as well. They have exceptional batting and pace bowling talent, but are light in the spin department.
Best match – South Africa v Afghanistan (double Super Over)
You think Super Overs are fun. How about two in one match? The South Africa v Afghanistan match in Ahmedabad was so good, they played it three times.
The scores were tied on 187 after which the Super Over also finished level on 17 runs each. South Africa ultimately edged ahead in the second Super Over, which again proved that this Protea team is built different.
