T20 World Cup 2022: 5 Biggest Upsets In T20 World Cup History
Seven T20 World Cups have produced some magical moments over the years for the cricket fan. But those World Cups also produced some wonderful moments for the big underdogs and some big wins for the online cricket betting enthusiasts who predicted those upsets were on the cards.
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Here are five of the major upsets in the tournament’s history:
5 Biggest Upsets In T20 World Cup History
5. Zimbabwe Beat Australia (2007 T20 World Cup)
In the first-ever T20 World Cup, Australia’s XI was a ‘who’s who’ of world-class players who had mastered ODI cricket by winning the last three editions in a row and looked set to do the same in T20s. Gilchrist, Hayden, Ponting, Symonds, Hussey, Lee, and Johnson were all there.
So, when the Aussies went in as hot favorites to beat Zimbabwe in their first-ever WC match, there weren’t many takers on Zimbabwe who had T20 World Cup betting odds of 6.00
Even when Australia posted just 138, not many felt that a Zimbabwe side lacking star names and a habit of upsetting the odds could get over the line, particularly against such a potent Australian attack.
But as wickets kept tumbling around him, opener Brendan Taylor kept going. He was there at the end when 12 were needed off the last over. A boundary off the first ball, some good running off the next couple of deliveries, and four leg byes to round it off and it was all over.
Zimbabwe were jubilant, Australia stunned.
4. Netherlands beat England (2009 T20 World Cup)
There were similarities between the match above and England vs Netherlands two years later. A star-studded side going off at short odds and the outsiders were available at around 8.00 to cause an upset with the favorites batting first.
Unlike the Australia match, England started extremely well. Opener Ravi Bopara got to 46 and Luke Wright was even better with a quickfire 71.
But once those two got out, England started to lose momentum. Remarkably, of the next five men to bat, only one (Paul Collingwood) hit a boundary and it was only just that one.
Still, 162/5 looked like enough runs against a side mostly made up of amateurs. Not to mention England were at home. But it was to be the Netherlands’ night. Everyone chipped in with some runs and in the end, it was seven needed off six.
Two missed runouts, a dropped catch, and some manic running later and the Netherlands scored two off the last ball to win by one run.
3. Afghanistan beat West Indies (2016 T20 World Cup)
In terms of the importance of the tournament, this one wasn’t particularly important. But in terms of making for a wonderful story for true outsiders, around the cricket odds of the 5.00 mark on the day, it was a big deal.
The West Indies were flexing their muscles at the 2016 World Cup in India.
Chris Gayle hit a brilliant century to beat England before they also went to get the better of Sri Lanka and South Africa in low-scoring affairs.
With three wins out of three, they were already in the semi-finals when they faced Afghanistan in their last group match.
They were favorites at the off and also at the break when faced with just 124 to chase. But there was no Chris Gayle, who was rested, and a turning track in Nagpur played beautifully into the hands of the Afghan spinners. The Windies batsmen struggled for boundaries and in the end, fell six runs short.
As the outsiders celebrated wildly, even Gayle celebrated with them. Afghanistan might have had their moment right there but let’s not forget the Windies went on to win the tournament.
2. Bangladesh beat West Indies (2007 ODI World Cup)
Almost a decade earlier the West Indies had been on the receiving end of another upset and that time it had cost them dearly.
At the 2007 World Cup, they needed to beat Bangladesh to progress to the next round and all the money was on them to do just that.
Bangladesh had ruffled a few feathers before at ODI World Cups, most notably when beating (and knocking out) India just a few months earlier.
West Indies posted a competitive looking 164/8. But Bangladesh weren’t fazed by the occasion or the total and went about their work.
Aftab Ahmed (62) and skipper Mohammed Ashrahful (62) put on a superb partnership and a young Shakib Al-Hasan chipped in with some important runs at the end for his own contribution.
Remarkably, they got there with two overs to spare. Bangladesh went on, West Indies went home.
1. Australia beat Pakistan (2010 t20 World Cup)
This last one wasn’t a pre-match upset but rather an in-play upset. Both Australia and Pakistan had similar kind of quality in their teams going into the 2010 T20 World Cup semi-final.
But after Pakistan posted an excellent 191/6 and Australia were reeling on 144/6 with 48 needed off the last three overs, it looked like Pakistan were cruising towards a victory.
Online cricket satta bazar had Australia out at 20.00, such was the size of their task.
A man for a crisis was needed and so Michael Hussey entered the scene. There was a six from him in the 18th over and two fours in the 19th. But still plenty of work to be done.
18 needed off the last over and Hussey had lost the strike. When he got it back ahead of the second delivery in the final over, he never looked back.
Saeed Ajmal was hit for six, six, four, and six and Hussey didn’t even need the last delivery. Mr. Cricket had delivered once again.
