Playing T20 Cricket — Strategy for Batting First
Nowadays, for the past 2 years, I have been playing t20 cricket every Saturday for my university team. I have played cricket regularly for 3 decades now and am an avid student and follower of the game.
However, despite that experience it’s only the past 2–3 years where I could say I have truly started to understand the game. Perhaps that is a product of playing regularly and then watching youtube videos to understand how the pros think and play the game. Here’s what I have learnt about playing the game.
Different sports have a different pace. In tennis, there are series of points that matter, in football every moment counts and then you build a momentum towards scoring. At time a goal comes out of left field. In cricket, especially t20 cricket, it’s a game of phases. There are a lot of nuances to it ofcourse but in this write up I will try to break it down into phases and how to think of the game in each phase
Let’s suppose you bat first. The 0–6 overs, the power play overs, the goal ought to be to get quick runs. Here’s how I get myself in as I open the innings. The first over or so, I just try to play with a straight bat. First 2–3 balls just play straight and defend. Once I feel ready, I then start stroking it harder to get a single or two or if a lose ball comes my way, hit it for a boundary. At this time, its important that both batsmen feel comfortable at the crease. If there is a widish ball we let it go to get free runs.
After the first 2–3 overs of power play when we feel like we have got our eye in, we go for a few shots. Ideally at this point if we could get our run rate up to ten per over, we like to finish the power play with 50–60 runs in 6 overs without losing a wicket. If we accomplish that, we could say that we have won this first phase.
The next phase is over 6–10, here the field restrictions have been removed and most teams bring on their spinner. This is the time to continue the momentum. By this time if both the openers are in, they have got their eye in. At this point, we look for deliveries that are loose and try to hit them out of the park for six. If we are able to continue the 10 per over run rate, we could get our side to 100 in 10 overs. Things change slightly if a wicket is lost which ofcourse happens every now and then. If that happens, the new batsmen that comes in takes a couple of deliveries to get themselves in. Here it is imperative that the person who is already in takes on responsibility of the scoring to prevent pressure build up on the newcomer.
After over 10. The next phase is over 10–15. Quite often sides underestimate the importance of this phase. Often there is a weak link from the bowling team bowling in these overs. On the batting side, you aim to continue the momentum that has been given to you. If 3–4 wickets have been lost in the first 10 overs then the batting side consolidates for a bit during this time.
Over 16–20 is when the batting side aims to really accelerate again. At this point the batting side should be aiming for between 10–12 runs per over if they can manage. If sides play like this they can post a total between 180–210.
What I have learnt is that partnerships matter in t20 just as much as they matter in other formats of cricket. The ideal partnership is such that one player consolidates while the other continues taking some risks. These roles could be played interchangeably during the partnership too.
Now after 20 overs, it is time for you to bowl. The first 6 overs are key for the bowling side. You should aim to have your best two pace bowlers or one pace bowler and one good slow left-arm bowler. In the first 6 overs with a good total on board, the chasing side usually tries to take some risks. There is a chance for the bowling side to take wickets. If the bowling side takes 2 wickets in the power play they have won it. Even if in the process the batting side scores a few runs. In my experience the best way to stop the run rate in t20 cricket is to take wickets because anytime you take wickets, the new batsmen takes a few deliveries to get their eye in, this reduces the scoring rate.
After over 0–6 in bowling, its time to bring in your first change. Could be a pacer, could be a spinner. Here’s the time to tighten the screws. The chasing side tries to continue scoring, play a few shots without losing wickets. If the bowling side could tighten the screws through disciplined bowling, focused fielding and few extras, the chasing side starts feeling the pressure. That’s when they take a few risks and in the process lose a wicket here or there. If you can get a total of 4–5 wickets by over 10, you’re firmly in control of the match.
The last ten overs of the match are totally dependent on what the situation is. If the required run rate is really high, all you have to do is keep the pressure on and the batting side would collapse sooner or later leading to an easy win. However, if the batting side has done a decent job in chasing thus far and you end up with something like a required rate of 9–10 runs per over in the last 5 overs, you will have a close match. At this point, you play the game by the over because the game changes each over. These matches are also fun.
Cricket is an amazing game, you have to have short-term and long-term strategies and the captain and the think tank need to be nimble in their thinking and the players on the field need to be switched on at all times to grasp whatever opportunities they get.
This is my approach towards batting first and playing the game. In another article at some point I will aim to capture my thinking around bowling first.
Thanks for reading
