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World T20: sundry notes

At the start of this year's tournament I wrote about how I was expecting lots of surprises and the teams and players haven't let me down at all. Right from the qualifying stage to just before the final three matches, nearly every day of the competition has thrown up a googly or two.

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The biggest surprise for me has been that three of my semi-finalist predictions have come out right! The fact that the one I got wrong has turned out to be the Indian team makes it all the more pleasing. I'm not hoping for a South Africa vs West Indies final any more but if I had to put money on two teams it would be those. As a fan, I'd like to see India defeating the West Indies in the final. Either way, it should a fascinating end to the tournament.

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If somebody had said to me at the start of the tournament that three of the four highest wicket-takers in the group stage of the main tournament would be leg-spinners, I would have happily certified them. And not only have Tahir, Badree, and Mishra claimed the most wickets, they also have the best averages given that they've conceded only around a run a ball. So much for leggies being expensive then.

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The last five group matches saw four teams bowled out for less than 90. Two of them (England and Pakistan) had made 190+ in their previous innings and Australia had made 178 so they all scored half or less in their next. Kane Williamson scored 42 out of a total of 60 for the Kiwis. It may not be the most engaging format of the game but T20 is certainly the zaniest.

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Lots of strange team/squad selections. Why are Steve Smith and Fawad Alam not in the Aussie and Pakistani squads respectively? Why are Brad Haddin and Shoaib Malik in there? Given Sammy and Bravo's batting form, why do the Windies keep playing Andre Russell ahead of Ravi Rampaul? Why did NZ not even try out Ronnie Hira or Anton Devcich? Ian Bell? Seriously, England?

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