WT20 Group1 analysis: Expect nail-biting finishes, but South Africa & England will have the last laugh

WITH South Africa, England, Sri Lanka, West Indies and Afghanistan in the same group, one can expect a roller-coaster ride for these teams in Group 1. All these teams are capable of producing some high-octane action on the field. That said, they can also infuriate their fans by playing some inconsistent and shoddy cricket.

Given such uncertainty in the group, we can expect some close, intriguing games between all these nations. Other than South Africa, all the other marquee teams in Sri Lanka, West Indies and England have won the World T20 championships before. 

The Proteas will once again come into the ICC World T20 as one of the top contenders for the title. The South African’s have a well-balanced team with steady openers in Quinton De Cock and Hashim Amla. The sensational AB de Villiers, captain Faf du Plessis and David Miller will play a vital role in the middle order. 

Their bowling too looks potent with Imran Tahir, Dale Steyn and Kagiso Rabada. Furthermore, their fielding like always will be a huge asset. South Africa’s only concern and will be their tendency to crumble under pressure situations. If the men from the Rainbow nation can get together as a unit and play fearless cricket, there could be some history in the making. 

Meanwhile, 2010 champions England too will enter the competition believing that they can go on to win the coveted trophy for the second time. The Englishmen will be captained by Eoin Morgan, who with his unconventional approach and confidence has brought belief in the camp. With devastating batsmen in Alex Hales, Jason Roy, Jos Butler and Ben Stokes in their line-up, England look well poised for big totals.

On the other hand, their bowling too looks versatile with Adil Rashid’s, Reece Topley and David Willey. The current crop of England players have a positive attitude towards the game and will come out firing on all cylinders. Moreover, not many have picked them to go all the way and will enable them to play freely. 

Talk about the T20 format, one can never take the eyes off West Indies. The 2012 champions will come into the competition without their premier spinner Sunil Narine and all-rounder Kieron Pollard. That said, there is enough strength in the batting, which will be led by Jamaican giant Chris Gayle.

All-rounders Darren Sammy, Dwayne Bravo and Andre Russell will always be a threat with their dual ability. Unfortunately, the Windies’ bowling looks far from potent and that might come to haunt them going ahead in the tournament. 

Meanwhile, the defending champions Sri Lanka too will be keen on continuing their success in this format. That said, without their legends Sangakkara and Jayawardene, the men from the Emerald Island look a little fragile in their batting order. Furthermore, their bowling too might suffer after Lasith Malinga’s injury concern.

The Lankan middle order too appears a little volatile and the absence of big hitters might prove to be detrimental for Sri Lanka. The new faces in Shehan Jayasuriya, Milinda Siriwardena and Dasun Shanka need to step up for their nation to make an impact in this edition of WT20. 

The final team of the group Afghanistan might not make it to the semis, but the high-profile teams will be foolish to overlook the spirited Afghans. Having played fabulous cricket throughout the qualifiers, Afghanistan will be brimming with confidence to make an impact in this group. Given their inexperience and lack of big match exposure, the qualifiers might struggle to go past high-profile teams. However, as cricket fans, we are almost certain to see some riveting action from the minnows. 

The matches in this group will kick-off on Wednesday 15th March and it will be the West Indies taking on England. Given the nature of the teams in this group, we can expect some nail-biting finishes along the way, but at the moment, it is difficult to look beyond South Africa and England as the semi-finalists from Group one.