T20 WC 2022 Stats Round-Up: Joshua Little’s hat-trick, Glenn Maxwell’s first fifty in 27 innings, and other stats

New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson returned to form as he smashed 61 off just 35 balls while the spin duo of Mitchell Santner and Ish Sodhi took four wickets for just 57 runs in between them as the Black Caps defeated Ireland by 35 runs in Match 37 of the T20 World Cup 2022 in Adelaide.

Ireland pacer Joshua Little scripted history as he became the sixth bowler to pick up a hat-trick in T20 World Cups. With this victory, New Zealand became the first and the only team so far to seal a semi-final spot. In the second game of the doubleheader, hosts Australia beat Afghanistan by four runs at the same venue courtesy of a half-century from Glenn Maxwell.

Speaking about the New Zealand-Ireland clash, captain Andrew Balbirnie won the toss and Ireland opted to field first. Dashing opener Finn Allen gave the Kiwis a blistering start again as he made 32 off just 18. Devon Conway played a scratchy innings of 28 off 33 with Williamson returning to form.

He (Williamson) silenced his critics as he slammed five fours and three sixes at a strike rate of 174.29 in his knock of 61. He fell prey to Little, his (Little's) first victim of the hat trick in the penultimate over of the New Zealand innings. Daryl Mitchell scored an unbeaten 31 off 21 to take New Zealand to a solid total of 185/6 in 20 overs.

In reply, the Irish openers Paul Stirling and skipper Balbirnie stitched a 68-run partnership in 8.1 overs. Stirling got dismissed for 37 while Balbirnie amassed 30. Lockie Ferguson took figures of 3/22 while Tim Southee also managed to snare two scalps for 29 runs. Disciplined bowling from the Kiwis restricted Ireland to 150/9 in 20 overs as they sealed their place in the semi-final. For his captain’s knock, Williamson grabbed the Player of the Match award.

In the Australia-Afghanistan encounter, Mohammad Nabi won the toss and opted to field first. David Warner’s poor World Cup campaign continued as he fell for 25. Mitchell Marsh struck 45 off 30 while Marcus Stoinis aggregated 25 runs off 21 balls. Maxwell remained unbeaten on 54 to take his side to a total of 168/8. Naveen-ul-Haq was the pick of the Afghanistan bowlers with his spell of 3/21.

Chasing 169, wicketkeeper batter Rahmanullah Gurbaz struck 30 with two fours and as many maximums. Gulbadin Naib looked in great touch before falling for 39 off 23. Rashid Khan threatened to take the game away from the Aussies as he hammered 48* with three fours and four maximums.

In the end, the Kangaroos survived Rashid’s blitz to seal a four-run win and have kept their hopes alive for the semis. For his match-winning fifty, Maxwell won the Player of the Match award. From this group, New Zealand are through while an England victory over Sri Lanka will take Jos Buttler’s side into the final four. A Sri Lanka victory would mean the Australians will enter the last four.

Meanwhile, here are some of the important stats and numbers from Matches 37 and 38 in the T20 WC 2022:

653 – Kane Williamson is now the leading run-getter for New Zealand in T20 World Cups. He surpassed Brendon McCullum’s tally of 637 runs.

6 – Joshua Little became the sixth bowler to pick a hat-trick in T20 World Cups. Previously, Brett Lee achieved the feat against Bangladesh in 2007, Curtis Campher against the Netherlands, Wanindu Hasaranga against South Africa, and Kagiso Rabada against England, all in the 2021 edition. Karthik Meiyappan is the fifth name on the list for his hat-trick against Sri Lanka in this edition.

39 – Little has now taken the most wickets (39) in T20Is in a calendar year. He went past Sandeep Lamichhane, who has snared 38 scalps this year itself.

26 – Williamson joined Nathan Astle and Ross Taylor in the second spot for winning the most Player of the Match awards (26) for the Kiwis across formats. Martin Guptill tops the chart with 34 awards.

5 – New Zealand have now defeated Ireland in five out of the five T20Is played between both teams.

12 – Williamson equaled Darren Sammy in the second position for most wins (12) as a skipper in T20 World Cup tournaments. MS Dhoni is on top for sealing 21 victories.

14 – Williamson has now struck the third most 50-plus scores (14) as captain in T20Is. He edged past Virat Kohli’s tally of 13 such scores. Babar Azam and Aaron Finch are on the top-two positions with 21 and 15 50-plus scores respectively.

26 – Glenn Maxwell reached a half-century after 26 T20I innings. His last fifty came against New Zealand in March 2021.

44 – Opener David Warner has managed to score just 44 runs in four innings at an average of 11.00 in this World Cup.

23 – Adam Zampa has now taken the second-most wickets (23) for Australia in T20 World Cup competitions. He surpassed Shane Watson, who took 22 scalps. Mitchell Starc is on top for picking up 27 wickets.

48* - Rashid Khan recorded his career-best T20I score of 48*. His previous highest score of 33 came against the West Indies in 2017.

4 – Australia registered their smallest victory by four runs in T20 World Cups. They beat the West Indies by 17 runs margin (DL method) in Colombo in the year 2012.

1 – Naveen-ul-Haq registered his joint-best figures of 3/21 in T20Is. He also took three wickets for 21 runs against Ireland in the year 2020.

1 – Rashid also smashed the highest individual score of 48* by any number eight batter in T20 World Cups. Previously, Papua New Guinea’s Kiplin Doriga scored 46* against Bangladesh in the 2021 edition.