Stephan Myburgh
63 v Ireland
World T20, Sylhet
To qualify for the World T20 main draw, Netherlands needed to beat Ireland with
a bonus point, which left them having to score 190 runs in 14.2 overs - odds
most teams might think would rule them out. But Stephan Myburgh was the master
mathematician. He took four sixes off offspinner Andy McBrine's first over and three
off Alex Cusack to bring up the team fifty in 3.1 overs, and take them to the
highest Powerplay score of 91. His fifty came off 17 balls, to equal the record
for the second-fastest in T20s but he fell soon after. Still, he put his team
on course to believe and ultimately to win the game.
Tom Cooper
45 v Ireland
World T20, Sylhet
Myburgh started it; Cooper finished it. Although Netherlands had got off to the
perfect start in pursuit of 190 in 14.2 overs, they needed a finisher. That man
was Cooper. Flown in from Australia just days before the tournament started, he
showed no signs of jet-lag as he took four sixes off a George Dockrell over and
hit two more in a blitzkrieg which saw him strike at 300, ensuring Netherlands
went through to the the World T20's main draw - the only Associate country to
do so.
Umar Akmal
94 v Australia
World T20, Mirpur
Umar Akmal turned the innings around after it was threatening to stall at 25
for 2 in the fifth over, dominating a third-wicket stand of 96 with his brother
Kamran, although he was dropped on 22 by Brad Hogg. His 94 was, at the time,
the second-highest score by a Pakistan batsman in T20 internationals after
Ahmed Shehzad's unbeaten 98 against Zimbabwe in August 2013. Umar was on strike
at the start of the last over, and a hundred was there for the taking, but he
picked out long-on. Still, though, it was a match-winning innings.
Glenn Maxwell
74 v Pakistan
World T20, Mirpur
Australia's World T20 campaign never really got going, but the same could not
be said for Maxwell, who lit up their opening match with his first T20
international fifty, from just 18 balls. Chasing a target of 192, Australia
were 8 for 2 at the end of the first over, which brought Maxwell to the middle
at No. 4. He attempted to reverse-sweep his first delivery (and was nearly
bowled), thoughts of careful rebuilding far from his mind, but he powered
Australia to 126 for 3 in the 12th over. He took 20 off four legitimate balls
from Bilawal Bhatti but no one below him reached double figures, as Pakistan
held on for the win.
JP Duminy
86 not out v New
Zealand
World T20, Chittagong
It was in Bangladesh that New Zealand beat South Africa to knock them out of
the 2011 World Cup, but Duminy exorcised those ghosts with an authoritative
knock in Chittagong. South Africa inched to 97 for 4 in 14 overs and needed to
get a move on, which Duminy provided. He steered the final five overs, in which
South Africa scored 70 runs, including 17 each off the 17th and 19th overs. His
half-century came off 31 balls but every one of his runs proved crucial: South
Africa were victorious by just two.
Alex Hales
116* v Sri Lanka
World T20, Chittagong
England had never chased a score of 190 and none of their batsmen had ever
reached three figures in T20 internationals until the night Hales rained
destruction on Sri Lanka, inflicting the only defeat of the tournament on the
eventual winners. Twice out in the 90s before, this time Hales sailed
gloriously on to an unbeaten century, sealing England's chase with his sixth
six. He crashed 24 off one over from Ajantha Mendis during a partnership of 152
with Eoin Morgan, which came after England were 0 for 2 at the end of their
first over. Though they needed two runs a ball for more than half the innings,
victory was achieved with room to spare. Hales provided England's sole World
T20 highlight.
Darren Sammy
34 not out v
Australia
World T20, Mirpur
West Indies had not successfully chased a score of 179 or above in T20s before
and it did not look like that would change when they needed 31 off the final
two overs in this match. Sammy took 19 off the penultimate over from Mitchell
Starc, including a six from the first ball, and kept strike to leave himself
with 12 to get off the final six balls. Despite padding up to the first ball
and digging out a yorker off the second, he smashed two maximums in succession
to stun the Australians.
AB de Villiers
69 not out v
England
World T20, Chittagong
Asked to captain in the absence of Faf du Plessis, who was banned for an
over-rate violation, de Villiers assumed full responsibility by scoring the
knock that allowed South Africa to post a match-winning total. He arrived after
South Africa were in a good position at 90 for 1 in the 11th over and
immediately put his foot on the pedal. He moved across the stumps with
authority and flayed bowlers down the leg side. His fifty came in 23 balls, the
fastest by a South African in T20s, and in the last 14 balls he faced, he
ransacked 48. South Africa defended 196 to qualify for the semi-final.
Ahmed Shehzad
111 not out v
Bangladesh
World T20, Mirpur
An innings that kept Pakistan's World T20 hopes alive going into their final
game, Shehzad's hundred also staved off the threat of another humbling from
Bangladesh. No other Pakistan batsman managed to pass 26. Already the holder of
Pakistan's highest T20 score, Shehzad became their first century-maker,
carrying his bat to underpin a total that proved to be well beyond the hosts'
reach. There was plenty of power, including 15 boundaries, but it was backed up
by canny thinking: with the pitch more suited to spin, he reined it in when
required while clattering 87 off 39 deliveries from Bangladesh's unfortunate
seamers.
Darren Sammy
42 not out v
Pakistan
World T20, Mirpur
West Indies were meandering at 81 for 5 after 14 overs when Sammy arrived and
almost doubled the score. He led their charge of 82 off the final five overs,
meting out a thrashing to Pakistan and taking West Indies into the semi-final.
Sammy's performance included a 71-run stand with Dwayne Bravo, off 32 balls.
Pakistan, stunned, were bowled out for 82.
Virat Kohli
72 not out v
South Africa
World T20 semi-final, Mirpur
The familiar sight of Kohli eating up the road of a limited-overs chase
accompanied the familiar sight of South Africa exiting in the knockout stage of
a limited-overs competition. Kohli's talents are well known but the key feature
of this innings was how perfectly his run-scoring intent was expressed. He
faced only three dot balls over the course of 44 deliveries, giving the South
Africa attack almost no respite as they failed to defend 170-plus for the first
time in T20s. Kohli scored less than half of his runs in boundaries, with two
sixes, but still managed a strike rate of 163.63 and moved to the top of the
tournament run scorers' list.
Eoin Morgan
71 v India
Only T20, Edgbaston
After a one-day drubbing, England were desperate to end a difficult season on a
high, but it did not look promising when they lost Jos Buttler at the start of
18th over to sink to 130 for 5. However, the next 17 deliveries brought 50
runs, most of them to Morgan, who flayed 71 off 31 balls in a brutal display of
striking. The breakdown was astonishing: having reached 15 off 15 balls, he
smashed 56 off his next 16, which included six of his seven sixes. Each was
vital: England won by just three runs.
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