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T20 World Cup: In-form England hand Australia their heaviest defeat in terms of balls remaining

Benedict Bermange looks at the stats and stories from the T20 World Cup as England dish out a shellacking to Australia; Sri Lanka skittle their opponents again, and Afghanistan spinner Rashid Khan becomes fastest bowler to 100 T20 international wickets; watch T20 World Cup on Sky Sports

Jonny Bairstow and Jos Buttler (Getty Images)
Image: Jonny Bairstow and Jos Buttler walk off after England clinched victory over Australia with 50 balls to spare in Dubai

As the ICC Men's T20 World Cup continues apace, Sky Sports Cricket statistician Benedict Bermange picks out some of the key numbers and narratives…

England carried on their winning ways with an eight-wicket victory over Australia. It was the heaviest defeat Australia have suffered in T20I cricket in terms of balls remaining:

Australia's heaviest T20 defeats (in terms of balls remaining)

Balls remaining Score Winning side Venue and date
50 126-2 England Dubai, 2021
31 90-3 Pakistan Dubai, 2012
31 142-4 West Indies Gros Islet, 2021
27 143-3 New Zealand Mount Maunganui, 2021
25 172-3 West Indies The Kia Oval, 2009

Last weekend, Adil Rashid took four wickets for just two runs in England's victory against the West Indies at Dubai, the best bowling figures for England in T20I history. The next three best performances also came against West Indies, with Chris Jordan bagging 4-6 and David Willey 4-7 in St Kitts and Nevis in 2019 and Ravi Bopara 4-10 at The Kia Oval in 2011.

Rashid's haul was the joint-cheapest for anyone taking at least four wickets in a T20 international - Steve Tikolo took 4-2 for Kenya against Scotland at Dubai in 2013.

Adil Rashid, England, T20 World Cup (AP Newsroom)
Image: Adil Rashid took 4-2 from 2.2 overs as England thrashed West Indies in their T20 World Cup opener

The top six West Indies batters from the top of the order were 'caught' by six different England players, just the second time this has happened in T20 cricket. The top six Australians were all caught by six different South Africans in their match at Durban in March 2016.

Pakistan thrashed India by 10 wickets in their match to give them their first victory against their rivals in World Cup cricket, with the unbroken first-wicket partnership between Mohammad Rizwan and Babar Azam the second-highest ever to win a T20 international by 10 wickets:

Highest partnerships in 10-wicket victories

Partnership Batters Game Venue and date
171 Martin Guptill & Kane Williamson NEZ ZEALAND vs Pakistan Hamilton, 2016
152 Mohammad Rizwan & Babar Azam PAKISTAN vs India Dubai, 2021
143 Michael Lumb and Alex Hales ENGLAND vs New Zealand Wellington, 2013

Sri Lanka dismissed the Netherlands for just 44 in their meeting at Sharjah. Not only was that the shortest all-out innings in T20 World Cup history but it meant that three of the five lowest totals in ICC T20 cricket have been against Sri Lanka, with the West Indies' total of 55 against England rounding out the top three:

Also See:

Lowest totals in ICC T20 cricket (bolded scores came in 2021 tournament)

Score Team Against Venue and date
39 Netherlands Sri Lanka Chittagong, 2014
44 Netherlands Sri Lanka Sharjah, 2021
55 West Indies England Dubai, 2021
60 New Zealand Sri Lanka Chittagong, 2014
60 Scotland Afghanistan Sharjah, 2021

The Netherlands innings provided the first occasion in which five batsmen have been dismissed lbw in the same T20I, with the second occasion coming three days later when five Scotland batsmen were lbw against Afghanistan.

Afghanistan's 130-run victory over Scotland was the joint second-highest margin of victory in any ICC T20 World Cup, alongside South Africa's 130-run win over Scotland at The Kia Oval in 2009, and behind only Sri Lanka's 172-run victory over Kenya in Johannesburg in 2007. In that game, Sri Lanka scored 260-6 before bowling Kenya out for 88.

When Rashid Khan dismissed Mohammad Hafeez in Afghanistan's match against Pakistan at Dubai, he became the fastest of the four bowlers to take 100 wickets in T20I cricket, doing so in his 53rd match. Rashid beat Lasith Malinga (76 matches), Shakib Al Hasan (84 matches) and Tim Southee (84 matches).

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Nasser Hussain says Afghanistan will prove a big challenge for the more high-profile sides at the T20 World Cup

Pakistan's Asif Ali won the game against Afghanistan by striking four sixes in the 19th over. He needed only seven balls to get the Player of the Match award, the fewest by any man who didn't have a bowling role in a T20I game. The previous record in a full 20 overs international game was Dinesh Karthik's eight-ball 29 not out against Bangladesh in Colombo in 2018.

Ruben Trumpelmann set the tone for Namibia's victory over Scotland at Abu Dhabi by taking three wickets in the first over. The only previous bowler to achieve that in any T20 international cricket was Sri Lanka's Angelo Mathews, who dismissed three West Indians at The Kia Oval in 2009.

Wanindu Hasaranga took the second hat-trick in this year's competition - after Ireland's Curtis Campher against Netherlands - and the third in all ICC T20 World Cup play when he dismissed Aiden Markram, Temba Bavuma and Dwaine Pretorius from successive deliveries in Sri Lanka's match against South Africa. It wasn't enough, though, as David Miller ensured that 15 required from the final over was no problem at all.

Watch the ICC Men's T20 World Cup live on Sky Sports between now and November 14.