The stock bowlers in a 50-over match always get the job done by finishing a stock of eight (or so) overs. The part-timers always provide an element of surprise by a series of dot-balls or a freak wicket. But in the T20 World Championship, the stockies and part-timers have had a tough time, getting smashed, predictably, by established frontline batsmen or brawny hitters who get an eye in. Look at this table.
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STOCK BOWLERS:
A Symonds 6 11.5 0 115 1 1/2 115.00 9.71 71.0
AD Mascarenhas 5 14.0 0 122 4 3/18 30.50 8.71 21.0
CT Tremlett 1 4.0 0 45 2 2/45 22.50 11.25 12.0
PD Collingwood 5 7.0 0 82 2 1/23 41.00 11.71 21.0
CP Schofield 4 12.5 0 92 4 2/15 23.00 7.16 19.2
Joginder Sharma 3 11.0 0 118 2 2/37 59.00 10.72 33.0
JS Patel 2 6.5 0 69 2 1/31 34.50 10.09 20.5
JDP Oram 6 13.0 0 146 1 1/14 146.00 11.23 78.0
SB Styris 6 11.0 0 74 2 1/14 37.00 6.72 33.0
Shoaib Malik 6 3.0 0 18 2 2/15 9.00 6.00 9.0
Shahid Afridi 6 24.0 1 158 12 4/19 13.16 6.58 12.0
JJ van der Wath 5 20.0 0 150 6 2/31 25.00 7.50 20.0
JA Morkel 5 10.0 0 77 3 2/12 25.66 7.70 20.0
VD Philander 5 13.0 0 104 4 2/23 26.00 8.00 19.5
ST Jayasuriya 5 12.5 0 102 4 2/4 25.50 7.94 19.2
G Wijekoon 3 11.0 0 101 2 1/12 50.50 9.18 33.0
MF Maharoof 2 5.0 0 50 1 1/16 50.00 10.00 30.0
DJ Bravo 2 4.4 0 73 0 - - 15.64 -
DR Smith 2 2.0 0 37 0 - - 18.50 -
CH Gayle 2 4.0 0 22 0 - - 5.50 - 0
PART-TIME BOWLERS
MJ Clarke 5 7.0 0 72 2 1/13 36.00 10.28 21.0
BJ Hodge 6 2.0 0 20 0 - - 10.00 -
DL Maddy 4 3.0 0 26 3 2/6 8.66 8.66 6.0
Yuvraj Singh 5 3.0 0 38 1 1/38 38.00 12.66 18.0
V Sehwag 6 1.0 0 20 0 - - 20.00 -
Fawad Alam 1 3.0 0 29 2 2/29 14.50 9.66 9.0
GC Smith 5 1.0 0 16 0 - - 16.00 -
LPC Silva 5 2.0 0 11 0 - - 5.50 -
RR Sarwan 2 2.0 0 10 2 2/10 5.00 5.00 6.0
MN Samuels 2 2.0 0 21 0 - - 10.50 -
J Mubarak 5 0.2 0 8 0 - - 24.00 -
TM Dilshan 5 5.3 0 36 2 2/4 18.00 6.54 16.5
Economy rates over or near 10 have been highlighted. Not surprisingly, Malik (only three overs), Afridi and the South African stock bowlers (some of them make the team on their bowling alone, and are not mere fill-in bowlers) save the day, but the others have been hammered around. Even Sanath, who had decent figures overall, was taken apart in a match against Pakistan for most runs in four overs. The effect is even more pronounced in case of part-time bowlers, with all bar three going for over nine or ten an over. Is this the case of average 50-over bowlers getting shown up in an even shorter format?