The first phase of the ICC T20 World Cup 2022 ended with the qualification of 4 teams (Sri Lanka, Netherlands, Zimbabwe, and Ireland) for the next stage. The qualifying round of the mega event saw few players putting up some match-winning performances.
But, it also proved to be a flop show for some other cricketers. So, we have picked 5 top players who failed to perform in round 1 of the ICC T20 World Cup 2022. The standard for picking up these players was the SportiScore points they gained, and the expectations fans had from them.
So, without any further ado, let’s analyse the top 5 flop players in the first round of the mega event.
1) Nicholas Pooran
Coming into this event with a highly inexperienced squad, West Indies had a lot of hopes from their captain. But, this tournament turned out to be a nightmare for Nicholas Pooran.
In his first outing of the tournament, he struggled big times before getting cleaned up for just 4 runs. His innings lasted 9 balls as Scotland thumped his team. Pooran’s struggle in their World Cup opener handed him -11.50 SportiScore points.
In the next game, he failed miserably again, as he could only manage 7 runs in 9 deliveries. His fortunes didn’t take any turn as he got out for just 13(11) in his last game of the tournament. The two ordinary outings took his tally of points to -18.83.
The Windies skipper scored just 24 runs in three innings and could hit just one six (0 fours) in the tournament. Considering Pooran’s hard-hitting abilities, it’s fair to say that he was the biggest disappointment in the first round.
2) Ryan Burl
Burl is a key element in the Zimbabwean side, but he is having a World Cup to forget this year. With a SportiScore of -11 after the qualifier round, the all-rounder is ranked 2nd in the list of top 5 failures in the T20 World Cup qualifier round.
Burl’s World Cup started with a 4 ball innings, where he scored a solitary run against Ireland. He didn’t get an opportunity to bowl in that game and ended the match with -12 points as per the SportiScore formula.
He was given a chance to show his bowling skills in the next game but went for 27 in 3 overs. If we talk about his batting, he crawled to 17 of 19 balls.
He was not given an over in the game against Scotland and scored 9 of 5 with the bat. Overall, he hasn’t been able to make an impact on the game and will be hoping for a better show in the super-12 stages.
3) Charith Asalanka
The 25-year-old batsman is known for his stroke-making ability, but he has gone absolutely nowhere in this tournament so far. Asalanka didn’t feature in Sri Lanka‘s first game of the World Cup, but he was called in the second game at the expense of Danushka Gunathilaka.
However, his inclusion in the team didn’t result in any favourable results for Sri Lanka. He was dismissed for a golden duck in the game against UAE, giving him -9 SportiScores. Asalanka was given another chance in his team’s final fixture of the qualifier round. But things only got worse for him in his second game.
He scored 31 of 30 against the Netherlands while hitting only 3 boundaries. His slow knock gave him -1.03 points, according to the SportiScore formula. So, both his outings handed him negative scores, which tells about his ordinary run of form with the bat.
Also, he didn’t make any notable contributions in the field and ended up with -10.03 points to become one of Sportiqo’s flop players in the first round.
4) Bhanuka Rajapaksa
Rajapaksa was one of the key performers behind Sri Lanka’s Asia Cup glory this year. His T20I average and strike rate of 26.59 and 136.05 suggest that he is a tough nut to crack for any opposition.
But, it wasn’t the case in this World Cup as he played a sluggish knock of 20(21) against Namibia in Sri Lanka’s tournament opener. Consequently, he was awarded -2 points for this match.
His struggle was prolonged against UAE as he was out for just 5 of 8 balls. This struggling knock handed him -9.45 points.
He showed some signs of hitting the form by playing a decent knock of 19(13) against the Netherlands. As a result, he grabbed 3 points and ended the qualifier stage at -8.45, reaching #4 in the failures list.
5) Even Lewis
Evin Lewis is a renowned T20 player in the cricketing fraternity. His T20I strike rate of 151.97 and average of 29.3 show that he has all it takes to star in an International tournament. Also, he has scored 10 half-centuries and 2 tons in T20 Internationals. So, his numbers clearly reflect his ability to take any bowling lineup to the cleaners on his day.
His tournament started with a 13 ball innings for 14 runs, where he managed a boundary and a maximum. Due to the high percentage of dot balls in his innings against Scotland, he got just 1 SportiScore to his credit. He was eyeing a big score in the next game against Zimbabwe, but his fortunes refused to flip.
Lewis’s second innings turned out to be a misery for him as he consumed 18 deliveries for his 15 runs. His knock included just one boundary and a glut of dot balls. Consequently, he bagged -7.02 points in the match.
Despite these two struggling knocks, he was given another go in the third game against Ireland. But, his nightmare tournament continued as he played a miserable knock of 13(18).
In the 3 matches he played, Lewis played 49 deliveries for his 42 runs. Without a doubt, it was one of the worst events of his life.
