Twenty20 cricket is a costly affair for bowlers. Benedict Bermange assesses who is the most expensive.
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Sky Sports' cricket stats man Benedict Bermange has teamed up with skysports.com to bring you all the statistical highlights from our cricket coverage.
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Phenomenal rate
The tournament started with an incredible upset victory for the Netherlands against England at Lord's, which brought back memories of England's 13-run defeat to Zimbabwe in the 1992 World Cup at Albury.
The Netherlands became just the second team to reach their target in a T20 International from the last ball of the match, following New Zealand who reached their target of 150 from the last ball to beat India at Wellington this 27 February.
The New Zealand v Scotland match at The Oval saw runs scored at the phenomenal rate of 13.76 per over.
This is the highest rate ever in any Twenty20 match world-wide in which more than ten overs have been bowled. The previous record was the 12.00 per over at which the Titans and Cobras scored at Centurion in 2006.
Brett Lee's four overs cost 56 runs against West Indies at The Oval as Chris Gayle careered to 88 from just 50 to help send Australia out of the competition. However, the most expensive bowling figures in international Twenty20 cricket still belong to England's James Anderson:
| Figures |
Name |
Team |
Against |
Venue |
Season |
| 4-0-64-1 |
JM Anderson |
England |
Australia |
Sydney |
2007 |
| 4-0-64-0 |
ST Jayasuriya |
Sri Lanka |
Pakistan |
Johannesburg |
2007 |
| 4-0-61-0 |
LN Onyango |
Kenya |
Sri Lanka |
Johannesburg |
2007 |
| 4-0-60-0 |
SCG Broad |
England |
India |
Durban |
2007 |
| 4-0-57-1 |
N Odihiambo |
Kenya |
Sri Lanka |
Johannesburg |
2007 |
| 4-0-57-0 |
Joginder Sharma |
India |
England |
Durban |
2007 |
Chris Gayle smashed 27 from one of Lee's overs - the fourth-most expensive over in T20 International history:
| Runs |
Batsman |
Bowler |
Match |
Venue |
Year |
| 36 |
Yuvraj Singh |
SCJ Broad |
India v England |
Durban |
2007 |
| 30 |
RT Ponting |
DR Tuffey |
Australia v New Zealand |
Auckland |
2005 |
| 29 |
J Mubarak |
LN Onyango |
Sri Lanka v Kenya |
Johannesburg |
2007 |
| 27 |
CH Gayle |
B Lee |
West Indies v Australia |
The Oval |
2009 |
No margin for error
South Africa's victory over Scotland by 130 runs in the second-largest margin of victory in any Twenty20 International. In the 2007 World Cup, Sri Lanka beat Kenya by 172 runs at the Wanderers, Johannesburg.
Their victory by just one run over New Zealand at Lord's equalled the narrowest victory margin - set by Australia also against the Kiwis at Sydney this February.
By beating the West Indies at The Oval, South Africa became the first team to ever win six consecutive T20 Internationals. They had previously won five from 2 February to 19 September 2007, as had India from 19 September to 20 October 2007.
By contrast, Bangladesh has now lost their last either Twenty20 International matches, beating New Zealand's record of seven consecutive defeats set between 19 September 2007 and 13 June 2008.
Aaron Redmond hit thirteen fours in his innings of 63 from just thirty balls against Ireland at Trent Bridge, a total surpassed by just one batsman in T20 International cricket. Lendl Simmons came close a couple of days later!
| Fours |
Name |
Score |
Team |
Against |
Venue |
Season |
| 14 |
HH Gibbs |
90* |
South Africa |
West Indies |
Johannesburg |
2007/08 |
| 13 |
RT Ponting |
76 |
Australia |
India |
Mumbai-B |
2007/08 |
| 13 |
AJ Redmond |
63 |
New Zealand |
Ireland |
Nottingham |
2009 |
| 12 |
LMP Simmons |
77 |
West Indies |
South Africa |
The Oval |
2009 |
Umar Gul's astonishing figures of five for six for Pakistan against Sri Lanka are the best-ever by any bowler in T20 International cricket. Amazingly, he also currently boasts the third-best figures:
| Figures |
Name |
Team |
Against |
Venue |
Year |
| 5-6 |
Umar Gul |
Pakistan |
New Zealand |
The Oval |
2009 |
| 4-7 |
MR Gillespie |
New Zealand |
Kenya |
Durban |
2007 |
| 4-8 |
Umar Gul |
Pakistan |
Australia |
Dubai |
2009 |
| 4-9 |
DW Steyn |
South Africa |
West Indies |
Port Elizabeth |
2007 |
| 4-11 |
Shahid Afridi |
Pakistan |
Netherlands |
Lord's |
2009 |
