What to expect from each venue in the Super 8s?

The ICC T20 World Cup 2024 witnessed some enthralling group stage encounters, with USA and West Indies hosting some exciting low scoring thrillers. 

West Indies, the primary hosts of this event, will be hosting the remainder of the tournament. The Super 8s will be having a total of 12 matches that will be hosted across four venues in Barbados, St. Lucia, Antigua and St. Vincent. All these venues have hosted a few games in this tournament so far. 

Let us look at how these venues have performed and find out what we could potentially expect from the surfaces in the Super 8s.

Kensington Oval, Barbados 

2024 T20WC Matches: 5

Wins: Bat 1st – 2 Bat 2nd – 1 Tie – 1 NR – 1

Toss won, match won: 1

Avg 1st inns score – 157/8

Avg 1st inns winning score – 183/6

Matches scheduled at this venue: AFG vs IND, USA vs WI, USA vs ENG

Among the aforementioned teams, ENG played two of their group games in Barbados

Venue Breakdown: 

1. Spinners have had minimal impact in Barbados in five games so far at this venue. Pacers have taken nearly 75% of the wickets at this venue in this T20WC.

-    Pace: 9 inns, 41 wkts, 4.6 wkts/inns, 7.4 econ

-    Spin: 9 inns, 13 wkts, 1.4 wkt/inns, 7.4 econ

2. The scoring rate in the first two phases of the game has been less as the run rate stands at 7.4 in powerplay and then drops to 6.8 in the middle overs. It picks up in final five overs by reaching 9.1 runs per over.

3. Toss has played zero impact as only once in five games has the team winning the toss ended up winning the match (That too in super over when Namibia beat Oman).

4. Batters have struggled to score when pacers have consistently bowled on the good length region.

Daren Sammy National Stadium, St. Lucia

2024 T20WC Matches: 4

Wins: Bat 1st – 2 Bat 2nd – 2

Avg 1st inns score – 195/5

Avg 1st inns winning score – 210/6

Toss won, match won: 2

Matches scheduled at this venue: ENG vs SA, AUS vs IND

Australia played their group encounter against Scotland at this venue. ENG, meanwhile, have already played their first Super 8s encounter (vs WI) at this venue

Venue Analysis:

1. Amongst all the venues in T20WC 2024, St. Lucia is the only batting friendly ground as batters have hammered pacers for almost 10 per over. Spinners, too, have taken their share of bashing, with their economy being over 8 runs per over.

-    Pace: 8 inns, 25 wkts, 3.1 wkts/inns, 9.7 econ

-    Spin: 8 inns, 19 wkts, 2.4 wkts/inns, 8.2 econ

2. Spinners have not been much effective as all variety of spinners (off spin, left arm spin & wrist spin) have a bowling strike rate over 18 with average wickets being less than 1.5.

3. Batters have swung their bats everywhere in final five overs with the run rate in overs 16-20 being 12.1, which is three runs more than the next best in Barbados (9.2).

4. Short balls have been dispatched by the batters across various parts of the ground, resulting in the highest batting strike rate at a short length for any venue.

Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, Antigua

2024 T20WC Matches: 5

Wins: Bat 1st – 2 Bat 2nd – 3

Avg 1st inns score – 117/7

Avg 1st inns winning score – 158/5

Toss won, match won: 2

Matches scheduled at this venue: AUS vs BAN, IND vs BAN, WI vs SA

South Africa and Australia played one group game each at this venue

Venue Analysis:

1. Pacers have outbowled spinners in both wickets and economy. They have been able to get double the wickets of spinners and have also been slightly more economical than the tweakers.

-    Pace: 10 inns, 32 wkts, 3.2 wkts/inns, 8.3 econ 

-    Spin: 8 inns, 16 wkts, 2.0 wkts/inns, 8.5 econ

2. Leg spinners like Adam Zampa, Adil Rashid and others have been excellent in Antigua in this T20WC, taking 11 wkts at an outstanding strike rate of 7.4 while maintaining an economy of 7.1 which is far better than other bowler types.

3. There is a big difference in the scoring rate on the off-side when compared to leg-side in Antigua. This is due to the skewed ground dimensions.

Arnos Vale Ground, St Vincent

2024 T20WC Matches: 3

Wins: Bat 1st – 3 Bat 2nd – 0

Avg 1st inns score – 127/7

Avg 1st inns winning score – 127/7

Toss won, match won: 0

Matches scheduled at this venue: AFG vs AUS, AFG vs BAN

Bangladesh played two of their group games at this venue

Venue Analysis:

1. Both pacers and spinners have had a great time bowling at this venue as the run rate has been less than six and the bowlers have been able to take wickets in bunches.

-    Pace: 6 inns, 24 wkts, 4.0 wkts/inns, 5.8 econ 

-    Spin: 6 inns, 20 wkts, 3.3 wkts/inns, 5.7 econ

2. Apart from right-arm pacers, off-spinners have been next best in taking wickets at this venue so far in this tournament. They have taken 12 wkts at a strike rate of 10.3 with an economy of 5.4

3. Short balls and back-of-a-length balls have worked like a charm for the quicks at this venue. 14/18 wickets taken by pacers in St Vincent have been off deliveries that have been either 6m or shorter.

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