- By Namrata Vijay
- Thu, 19 Feb 2026 04:03 PM (IST)
- Source:JND
T20 World Cup 2026: The hype around the ongoing mega event was around how many teams can post a target of more than 300 runs, especially in India. But in reality, things have been quite different. Halfway through the mega event, teams were seen struggling to score even 200 runs. Until last week, this target was posted just twice, as Scotland had scored 207 runs against Italy, and then South Africa scored 213 runs against Canada.
From the 2024 T20 World Cup till the ongoing tournament, there have been 89 times when the teams have posted a target of 200 runs, and that also includes the matches of associate teams.
Talking about matches between full-member teams, the number of instances is 48 of 353 innings. During this time frame, teams had scored more than 250 runs just five times.
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“I think 300 and 250 are still kind of outliers anyway in the game. They are not that common. They are more common than they have been, but it’s not like every game is a game like that,” Jos Buttler told reporters during the pre-match press conference of the match against West Indies.
Since last year, the average first innings score amongst two full-member teams has been 169 runs. During the first 15 matches of the 2026 T20 World Cup, there were 175 runs.
Although a huge shift has been witnessed where teams are batting more aggressively as compared to the earlier editions, the kind of cricket played in a World Cup is quite different from that played in a bilateral series.
“In bilateral cricket, the pressures and the consequences of the result are a little bit different. I think generally in World Cups, you see teams play the percentages a little bit more, maybe not risk as much. I might be wrong on that, but I think that’s a general thing,” Buttler added.
After 2022, the batters of a full-member team have played aggressive shots 68 percent on average during a bilateral series. But in the three World Cups during this time period, these numbers have gone down in the bilateral average. It did come close in the 2022 T20 World Cup in Australia, where the pitches were quite consistent as compared to those in the USA and the West Indies in 2024 and then in India and Sri Lanka in 2026.
Risk-taking patterns since 2022
Apart from teams consciously avoiding taking risks, the pitch conditions have also been the biggest reason. If a team has entered the mega event on the back of playing on a batting-friendly pitch, these surfaces in the mega event do undergo wear and tear since there are multiple matches held on a single day.
“You get the day games, so you don’t get that dew factor in the evening, which quickens up the pitch and the outfield and makes it hard for the bowlers,” Australia pacer Nathan Ellis said.
The Mitchell Marsh-led side played its tournament opener at 3 p.m. in Colombo, and it's the same surface where Sri Lanka had faced Ireland a few nights ago. Ellis further revealed that the pitch would always slow down under the sun. “You obviously get traffic on the pitches, so they’re a little bit more tired, potentially get slower.”
Buttler emphasised that a similar situation occurred in the 2019 ODI World Cup, where pitch conditions changed during 11:00 a.m. matches.
“I remember in 2019, going into the 50-over World Cup, everyone was talking about 350-400 scores and the flat wickets in England. But then it turned out, with 11 o’clock starts, PowerPlay bowling was the key thing, and in the final we played the 240 runs kind of cricket.”
But Ellis was of the view that the scoring rate might change after the tournament shifted to night matches.
“I’m expecting some good wickets as well in the nighttime games once you get over to India, those wickets over there, the ball flies around in the small grounds,” he added.
Buttler, too, hasn't ruled out the fact that a team might post a target of more than 250 runs during the ongoing mega event. “I think going around India and having played here a lot before, there may be games that might play out that way. But there will also be tighter, closer games.”
Till now, the trend has shown that the World Cup doesn't really give in to the pre-tournament hype. Although the shortest format is about taking the higher risks, it's the context that dominates- match situation, pitch fatigue, start times, and tournament pressure all shaping outcomes.