Just what makes a good first innings total in Twenty20?

Twenty20 World Cup / Editor / 18 September 2007 / Leave a Comment

Geoffrey Riddle considers how many ruins on the board make a total defendable?

With their batting line-up led by the ever-youthful Sanath Jayasuriya, Sri Lanka managed an unheard of 260 against Kenya on Friday. That total was a full 39 runs higher than the 221 that Australia managed against England at the SCG in January, the previous highest score in the short history of the international Twenty20 game.

Like at the 1996 World Cup when Sri Lanka revolutionised cricket with their pinch-hitting, they look to be pushing the realms of the shortest form of the game. Jayasuriya and Co have therefore made teams wary about what is a decent score in this tournament, and punters also have a devilish job trying to work out the magic, insurmountable figure, too.

If you look at the 50-over version of the game, there are brackets of scores at all three grounds used in this competition that are a decent guide to what scores are possible on each wicket.
Going back to 1971, it seems that anything around 260 and over is a decent score at Durban in 50 overs cricket. Australia beat the Proteas there five years ago in a day/nighter when Adam Gilchrist hit 105. The Baggy Greens were chasing 267, and Sri Lanka famously tied with South Africa at the World Cup there on 268. All other scores above that have seen the side batting first win.

At Cape Town the winning batting-first scores are around ten runs lower. South Africa chased down New Zealand's 256 there with three wickets to spare in 2000, but all scores over that have seen the chasing side fail. There is only one score over 300 at the ground at all, and that was by the home side against Kenya in 2001.

We then turn to the Wanderers where Sri Lanka hit their mammoth 260. Yes, we are talking the ground where South Africa staggeringly chased down Australia's 434 last year. Even 300 doesn't seem enough in Johannesburg with several sides succeeding in a run chase of such proportions.

So where does that leave us in the World Twenty20. Well, going back to Durban, India tied with Pakistan on 141 the other day and Pakistan easily defended 171 against Scotland. England fell five runs short on Tuesday against the Black Caps, who scored 164. A first-up total of around 160-170 therefore looks around par.

Punters may consider England a bad team to put a marker against, but their 188 against Zimbabwe in Cape Town looks a solid score against a minnow nation. The Aussies rattled along at 7.75 an over against Bangladesh at Newlands but it was clear they were taking it quite easy. If 170-180 is a decent total against a minnow, then it is probably fair to consider around 160-170 to be defendable there as well.

What is a good score at Johannesburg though? Well, given Sri Lanka's exploits, I suppose it is very difficult to say. New Zealand defended a total of 190 against India at the Wanderers - a team who are not in the best of form at the moment - but South Africa eclipsed West Indies' 205 with ease in the tournament's curtain-raiser.

Graeme Smith's side punched 11.77 runs an over in that innings, which entertains the prospect of teams getting to around 235. As with the 50-over examples, Johannesburg is much higher-scoring track than either Cape Town or Durban, and although a Shane Bond-led Black Caps managed to defend 190, that looks a magnificent performance from Daniel Vettori's side and something in excess of 210 looks safer.