Inside the powerplay stages: India, England master batting tactic
Heading into the World Cup, which team holds the advantage when it comes to pacing its innings and building partnerships? A look at the strongest and the weakest at different stages of the Powerplays.
POWERPLAY 1
The two strongest teams in P1 (overs 1-10 when only two fielders are allowed outside the 30-yard circle) are South Africa and New Zealand, who score fast, without losing early wickets. These are the teams with the strongest opening partnerships. SA’S Quinton de Kock has hit at least a fifty in five of his last six ODI appearances. England are also very close to this group, with Jonny Bairstow and Jason Roy giving them flying starts; their run rate is the best in the phase. India and Pakistan like to lay the platform in the first ten overs, scoring slower than the global average but also losing far fewer wickets. Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma like to set the stage for Kohli. Australia (David Warner and Aaron Finch are expected to open) score briskly but lose early wickets too.
West Indies are the weakest in terms of run rate and dismissals, though the new opening pair of John Campbell and Shai Hope set the record for the highest opening partnership in ODIS this May.
POWERPLAY 2
In P2 (overs 11-40, 4 fielders outside the These charts look at how teams have batted against other top teams in the three powerplays since the 2015 World Cup.
The higher a team is the better its run rate in that phase, the further to the right it is, the less often it loses its wickets. circle) India and England are the strongest. No wonder. India has Kohli, England have Joe Root. Both teams perform above the global average in terms of scoring rates and dismissals. England score more, while India lose fewer wickets. There is surprisingly little to choose from between South Africa, New Zealand, Australia, Pakistan and Bangladesh in the middle overs. Sri Lanka and West Indies are the weakest.
POWERPLAY 3
England, South Africa and India are the best in this phase (overs 41-50, 5 fielders outside the circle). England and South Africa have the fastest scoring rates in the phase—think Jos Buttler going berserk. Australia and New Zealand also score quickly, but lose wickets more often. Pakistan score slower than global average but rarely lose wickets. Again, Sri Lanka and WI bring up the rear.