?ICC World Twenty20 – a history
The tournament returned to Asia for a second consecutive time, the fifth edition being held across eight venues in Bangladesh from 16 March to 6 April. For the first time, the tournament featured 16 teams. The top eight teams in the ICC T20I Team Rankings secured direct entry into the Super 10s, where they were joined by Bangladesh and Netherlands, who topped their respective four-team groups.
The Netherlands provided the upset of the Super 10s by crushing England by 45 runs in Group 1, though both teams had already been eliminated by then. Sri Lanka and South Africa made the semi-finals from their group, and were joined in the last four by the Group 2 topper India and West Indies, the defending champion. Sri Lanka muscled past West Indies by 27 runs to exact revenge for defeat in the final of the previous edition while India ensured that South Africa’s winless record in the knockout stage of ICC events remained intact by surging to a six-wicket win in the second semi-final.
With Virat Kohli in sublime touch, India looked on course for a competitive total but lost its way in the last quarter to settle for 130 for 4. Kohli remained unbeaten on 77 off 58 deliveries. Sri Lanka was hardly troubled as it raced to 134 for 4 in the 18th over, Kumar Sangakkara leading its chase with an unbeaten 52. It was the perfect send-off for former captains Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene, both of whom retired from Twenty20 International cricket at the end of the tournament. Sangakkara was the player of the final while Kohli, with 319 runs from six innings at a stunning average of 106.33, was named the player of the series.
Imran Tahir, the South African leg-spinner, and Ahsan Malik, the right-arm medium-fast bowler from Netherlands, were the joint highest wicket-takers with 12 wickets apiece.
Australia Women made it a hat-trick of titles by overwhelming England Women by six wickets with nearly five overs to spare. Sarah Coyte did the bulk of the damage by taking 3 for 16 as England, put in to bat, was kept down to 105 for 8. With Meg Lanning spearheading the chase with a 30-ball 40, Australia surged to 106 for 4, Ellyse Perry applying the finishing touches with an unbeaten 31. Coyte was named the player of the final while England’s Anya Shrubsole walked away with the Player of the Series honours.