T20 World Cup 2024: Team-Wise Performance Ranking (Week-1) - Cricket Winner

With a tremendous start to an intriguing and intense ICC T20 World Cup 2024, it is unsurprising to have witnessed some fantastic performances from the top performers and the newly-promising underdogs. The tournament has been a wholesome package of cricketing entertainment, with nail-biting finishes, stunning catches, and powerful cricketing displays.

It has made cricket fanatics await the coming matches and rounds that await excitement, surprise and fascination from the tournament. That said, here’s an overview and ranking of all the team’s performances from the tournament’s Week 1, which is completely based on their cricketing aspects performance and not on the match count and the points table.

1. United States of America (USA)

Being a co-host with the West Indies, the USA arsenal has been a package of surprises for displaying their cricketing amongst the top contenders and deserves to take the first spot in this week’s journal. Kickstarting their winning stint against Canada, thanks to a swashbuckling innings of Aaron Jones, it has shown its powerful batting prowess.

With their second match against Pakistan, they pulled a shocker. They won against the 2009 T20 World Cup champions till the super over, giving significant credit to the captain Monank Patel’s batting software engineer and a commendable pacer’s display by Saurabh Netravalkar, who is also a software engineer for Oracle. As it suggests, the co-host team are eager to scalp a position in the Super 8.

2. India

India, the No.1 T20I side of the game, has been a favourite amongst everyone’s winner’s list. Scalping a victory in their first match against Ireland, thanks to the heroic and comeback cricketing displays by Rishabh Pant, Rohit Sharma and Hardik Pandya.

And not to forget their continuous winning business against Pakistan in a low-scoring clash, with the robust pace attack doing the trick. By this, it is evident that the team is up for any challenges with an optimum and robust squad and aims to win their second-ever T20 World Cup after 17 years.

3. Afghanistan

Afghanistan have been the group toppers by scalping two wins out of their two matches. With a 100% strike rate in the first week, they obtained their first win against Uganda with a thunderous bowling attack. They have repeated the same, but against a formidable New Zealand squad, where they have flummoxed its batting in a mere double-digit score, thanks to the cricketing prowesses of bowlers like Fazalhaq Farooqi and Rashid Khan.

With the batting department helmed by Rahmanullah Gurbaz’s back-to-back half-centuries, it is not a surprise that the team’s first-week performance has made it a strong contender for Super 8.

4. Australia

Australia has had an impeccable stint with its ICC Tournament, as it has been the defending World Test Championship and the 50-over Cricket World Cup. By this, it is evident that the team are eager to scalp another tournament victory in the shortest format for the second time.

By playing two matches, they have emerged victorious in both of them against Oman and England, thanks to their star performers of the first week, Adam Zampa, Marcus Stoinis and David Warner, which made them their group toppers. By this, the Aussies are eager to impact the tournament’s dynamics.

5. South Africa

South Africa has been consistently performing in recent major tournaments. In their first-week performance, it is promising to see the Proteas being able to qualify for the Super 8 after their two consecutive wins against the Netherlands and Sri Lanka.

Though they have fumbled a bit with their batting department, their bowling arsenal, comprising of Anrich Nortje, Ottneil Baartman, Marco Jansen, Kagiso Rabada and Keshav Maharaj, were able to restrict the opposition batters to a low-scoring total and eager to continue with it further.

6. West Indies

With the USA, second co-host West Indies have also been phenomenal in the initial stages of the tournament. Though they have had their group stage matches against the bleak associate members of Uganda and Papua New Guinea, they seem unstoppable and are eager to strive towards the Super 8.

With a robust power-hitting side and a formidable bowlers team up, they have won two out of two games, with their clash up against Uganda being the highlight, where they have bowled them out for a mere 39 runs, making it the joint-lowest total in T20 WC history.

7. Bangladesh

Bangladesh have played just one match in the first week of the tournament. But, it was against the 2014 T20 WC champions and their biggest rivals, Sri Lanka, where they triumphed in a close yet intense win by two wickets.

With their primary highlight of its bowlers like Mustafizur Rahman, Taskin Ahmed, and Rishad Hossain, the Bangla Tigers are up against its group-stage opponents by showcasing their cricketing display.

8. Scotland

Scotland played three matches in the first week of the group stage, with their first clash-up against England being washed out, which gave us a glimpse of their robust batting in its first innings. They have scalped their wins against Namibia and Oman, where their bowlers have restricted them to a decent score, and the batters finished the rest of the formalities.

With a formidable position in their group stage, they have an excellent chance to qualify in the Super 8, with the NRR and points count being the deciding factors. The highlight players are Brad Wheal, Richie Berrington, Michael Leask, and Bradley Currie.

9. Netherlands

The Netherlands have had a decent first week of the T20 WC. Out of their two matches, they have won just one against Nepal, where they choked the opposition with its bowling attack and finished the batting business to affect its net run rate (NRR) positively.

But the Dutch side has fumbled against the Proteas and lost in a low-scoring clash. The team’s highlight players for the week were Tim Pringle, Logan van Beek and Max O’Dowd.

10. Canada

The primary reason Canada is a part of the top 10 in the performance ranking is its batting display. Though their batting efforts in the warm-up game and its first clash against the USA were unsuccessful, it gave a glimpse of their impact potential with the willow.

In their second matchup against Ireland, a low-scoring thriller led them to their first tournament win, thanks to highlighting displays by Nicholas Kirton, Shreyas Movva and Dillion Heyliger.

Also Read: T20 World Cup 2024, India vs Pakistan Video Highlights: Turning Points, Stats and more

11. Namibia

Namibia played two matches in the first week and scored just one win against Oman, which exceeded the super-over. Though they have been decent with its cricketing attack in both their matches, their batting order has been a subject of matter to improve after a loss against Scotland.

Now, they are eager to turn the tables in the coming days of the tournament, especially when their subsequent matches are up against the top powerhouses of Australia and England. The team’s highlights were David Wiese, Gerhard Erasmus and Ruben Trumpelmann.

12. Uganda

Uganda is one of the ICC associate members who have had a bleak start in the first week of the tournament by losing two matches out of their three, with one horrendous 39 runs all-out against the West Indies, making it the joint lowest T20 WC batting score.

However, scalping a win against PNG would significantly boost its morale. Their key players were Riazat Ali Shah, Frank Nsubuga and Brian Masaba.

13. England

England, the defending champions of the T20 WC, had turmoil at the start of the tournament’s first week. By playing two matches and one against Scotland getting rainwashed, the team have struggled to win against their old nemesis, Australia.

With a decent batting display, the team would primarily focus on their bowling attack and could turn the tables in the coming weeks. Their key players were Jos Buttler, Moeen Ali and Phil Salt.

14. Nepal

Nepal played just one match in the first week of the tournament, where they were trashed miserably by the Netherlands, as they were all out for a mere 106 runs.

But, as it’s just the start of the tournament, they are determined to turn the tables under the helm of the young captain, Rohit Paudel, who has been the lone batting force for the team.

15. Papua New Guinea (PNG)

Papua New Guinea is another associate member witnessing a large-scale cricket tournament for the first time. Though they are a team doing their best in the game, they have lost their first two clashes against West Indies and Uganda.

With its opponents against an in-form Afghanistan and New Zealand, it will be tough for them to scalp a win, but as the format says, anything can happen.

16. Ireland

Ireland played just two matches in the tournament’s first week, losing against India and Canada. The squad comprises a mix of experienced and emerging players, but they have yet to taste success in the tournament.

In the Irish team, it was Mark Adair who had been handy enough with both bat and ball.

17. New Zealand

Though the Kiwis side has played just one match in the first week, their horrendous performance in all aspects, with their clash against Afghanistan, led them to be in the last spots of this listicle.

With sloppy fielding, lack-of-depth batting and amateurish play, New Zealand is now in the previous position of its group stage, with its Net Run Rate being a matter of concern in its Super-8 qualification.

18. Sri Lanka

The 2014 T20 WC champions Sri Lanka are now under the trouble radar of its qualification scenario for the ongoing T20 World Cup. By losing their first two matches against the robust teams of South Africa and Bangladesh, they can turn the tables with their upcoming matches against Nepal and the Netherlands.

The team has been decent with its bowling and disappointing with its batting potential. And is eager to work on it in the coming weeks of the tournament.

19. Pakistan

Pakistan has had a forgettable start to the tournament, losing two matches against a crucial and a newbie opponent of India and the USA, respectively. They deviated their game in a low-scoring chase in the recent clash against India, which talks about the team’s bleak batting lineup.

In their matchup against the underdogs, the USA also spoke about the team’s lack of depth. With a solid group-stage teams lineup, it will be a challenging terrain for them to qualify for the 2022 T20 WC runners-up.

20. Oman

Oman played three matches in the first week of the tournament and lost all of them, making their chances of qualifying for Super 8 near zero. Their first clash against Scotland was a close call, as they pulled it till the super over by giving their valiant effort.

The rest of the matches against Australia and Scotland have got them to maintain their losing streak. Their last group stage match is up against the defending champions, England, who are in a mood to turn their tables after their not-so-good tournament streak.