The Number Game - Do Successful Teams Actually End Up Winning The T20 World Cup?

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The growing popularity of T20 cricket is mainly because of its entertaining nature wherein the result of the match is decided quickly in comparison to other formats. With T20 World Cup just a few days away, Cricketnmore brings to you the Number Game – a statistical analysis of past T20 World Cup Champions.  

For a team to be deemed successful - is it the trophy that matters or the consistency? A team winning 62.80% of matches has won the T20 World Cup only once, while a team with a 54.8% winning rate has won it twice. 

In a particular match, a game can turn upside down in a matter of few balls. However, it doesn't mean that team has played better cricket, it just means the chances they took came off. 

For a team to be 'successful', taking chances and them coming off consistently is the key, and consistency can't be defined in a sample of seven matches. In a T20 World Cup campaign, a team can play a maximum of seven matches, including the Final. 

In the 2007 T20 World Cup, South Africa, who did not even qualify for the Finals, had the highest winning percentage among the participants - 80%. In five matches, they won four matches and lost one. On the other hand, India, who won the inaugural title, played seven games in which they won four games and tied one - a winning percentage of 57.14. 

In the 2009 World Cup, Sri Lanka lost just one game in the tournament - the final - against Pakistan, who had lost two coming into the match. While the island nation had an 85.71-win percentage, Pakistan with a 71.4 winning rate won the tournament. 

The result in the 2010 World Cup was identical to 2009. Australia won six matches out of seven and lost the final to England, who won five games. 

In 2012, West Indies had won only three wins and tied one game out of seven and still ended up winning the trophy while India, who won four out of five matches, did not even qualify for the semi-finals. 

The 2014 World Cup was one of the best campaigns for India as they reached the finals unbeaten in five matches, yet Sri Lanka, who had lost one match earlier, ended up lifting the trophy. 

Only in 2016, the team with a high win percentage actually ended up winning the World Cup - West Indies. They lost just one game and won five out of six games. 

If one can identify the pattern, there's no guarantee of winning a T20 game even if a team has done well in the first 39 overs, in a matter of few balls the result can change. Sri Lanka and West Indies are perfect examples if one wants to judge - is it the consistency that makes one successful or trophies?