How England won World T20, 2010

England shocked the cricketing world by winning the ICC World T20 by routing Australia in the final of the tournament. This was the first ever World Cup tournament that the English side has won in the 35 years since the first World Cup was ever played in the fifty overs format.

So how did the English side manage to turn around the fortunes and clinch the tournament?

Balanced Side:

Unlike many of the other teams in the competition, England went in with the side which had six batsmen, four frontline bowlers and a fifth medium pacer who could wield his willow if needed. The batsmen were expected to their job, but the bowlers were not the worst when it came to holding the bat, whereas the bowling side had three fast and two spin bowlers.

All in all, there was a lot of balance in the side, and the side went unchanged throughout the tournament, except when Kevin Pietersen had to return back to England to attend his child’s birth.

Excellent Fielding:

There have not been too many sides in the history of international cricket, who have won a major tournament without possessing a side that can field rather well. And England was no exception. While their fielding in the entire tournament was good, it was the final that saw them push up to the very next level; the first four of the Australian dismissals were all thanks to brilliant efforts in the field.

Paul Collingwood, the captain, obviously led the way, but even the others were always there to back him. Pietersen was excellent in the outfield, whether it was catching or ground fielding, and in the end, that is where it made a lot of difference.

The Pietersen-Morgan show:

It must be said that apart from the final where Craig Kieswetter finally came to the party, it was the joint efforts of Pietersen and Eoin Morgan with the bat that saw the English never get under pressure. Pietersen did not have a good tournament to begin with, when he was out caught, pulling the ball to the fence, but right through the remaining four games that he was a part of, he managed to exhibit the same kind of form that he had show before the Achilles Heel injury hit him.

Yardy and Swann surprise:

It was a big surprise that when most of the other spinners struggled in the tournament, it was the duo of Michael Yardy and Graeme Swann that dominated the proceedings with some throttling bowling. Swann ended with an economy of 6.5 and scalped ten wickets in the tournament, whereas Yardy had an economy of only 6.8; something that can, at best, be expected out of sub-continent spinners and especially on the Caribbean tracks.

Cool Captain Collingwood:

There can hardly be any doubt that Paul Collingwood played a huge role in the development of the side and his confidence seemed to have rubbed on to the others as well. The best example of his captaincy was when he won the toss in a pressure final and decided to field first, something that took everyone by surprise. However, he backed his bowlers to the hilt and in the end, stood vindicated as Australia slumped to 8/3 and 47/4 in ten overs.