After Sri Lanka(my favorite) was unable to chase down a meager target of 138 set by West Indies(my dark horse), I doubt what was the factors that restricted them to achieve their target.
While chasing both Jayawardene and Sangakkara treated West Indies bowling with extra respect, even played very cautiously against rookie and part-time spinners. Inspite having no close-in fielders, they hardly rotated strike, and never attacked loose balls. And as powerplay got over, the asking rate slowly climbed from 7 (at beginning) to 8. Then in the 10th over, at the score of 47, Sri Lanka lost their 2nd wkt, the all important one of Sangakkara.
After this- Sri Lankan collapsed losing 5 wickets in 5overs !. Was it the pitch ? or the target ? or kind of bowling attack ?
I believe the reason being – lack of partnerships and its progressive speed through each phase, which deprived them of not meeting their target.
It has been a common factor in this World Cup, therefore let us look how teams went chasing down anything >140 (formidable target for this tournament).
Out of 27games played in this tournament, 19 had >140 target to chase – of which only 6 teams were successful in chasing down (including tied game), and 13 failed to achieve(including tied game) their target.
A look at Partnerships and contribution from TOP4 Batsman when target was chased successfully.
| Wkt Partnerships | Inns | Bat Avg | 50+ |
| I | 6 | 66.30 | 3 |
| II | 6 | 39.16 | 2 |
| III | 4 | 48 | 2 |
| IV | 2 | 22.50 | 0 |
| V | 2 | 6.50 | 0 |
| VI | 1 | 7 | 0 |
| VIII | DNB | DNB | DNB |
| IX | DNB | NB | DNB |
| X | DNB | DNB | DNB |
| Top(4)Batsmen’s contribution | Inns | Bat Avg | 50s |
| Opener(1) | 6 | 33.00 | 1 |
| Openers(2) | 6 | 57.33 | 4 |
| Bat No.3 | 6 | 33.83 | 1 |
| Bat No.4 | 4 | 20.25 | 0 |
| Top(4)-Contribution (%) | 6 | 92.91% | 100.00% |
Run-rate progression in each phase
| Target | 175 | 134 | 141 | 149 | 130 | 147 | 129 |
| Asking Rate | 8.75 | 6.70 | 7.05 | 7.45 | 6.50 | 7.35 | 6.45 |
| Teams | S L | PAK | AUS | ENG | S L | AUS | IND |
| Score@ 6th over | 68/0 | 37/3 | 47/0 | 37/1 | 55/1 | 38/1 | 36/1 |
| Score@10th over | 103/1 | 55-4 | 100/0 | 60/1 | 81/1 | 76/1 | 70/1 |
| Score@ 15th over | 133/3 | 76-7 | 141/1 | 111/1 | 128/1 | 118/2 | 110/2 |
| End Inns | 174/6 | 136/8 | 141/1 | 149/4 | 130/1 | 147/2 | 129/2 |
| Over | 20 | 19.4 | 14.5 | 18.5 | 15.2 | 17.4 | 17 |
A look at Partnerships and contribution from TOP4 Batsman when they failed to meet their target!.
| Wkt Partnerships | Inns | Bat Avg | 50+ |
| I | 13 | 14.80 | 1 |
| II | 13 | 12.38 | 0 |
| III | 13 | 20.00 | 1 |
| IV | 13 | 24.20 | 2 |
| V | 13 | 11.90 | 1 |
| VI | 12 | 16 | 0 |
| VII | 12 | 13.40 | 1 |
| VIII | 11 | 8.45 | 1 |
| IX | 9 | 9.89 | 0 |
| X | 8 | 7 | 0 |
| Top(4)Batsmen’s contribution | Inns | Bat Avg | 50s |
|
Opener(1) |
13 | 13.30 | 0 |
| Opener(2) | 13 | 16.15 | 1 |
| Bat No.3 | 13 | 14.46 | 1 |
| Bat No.4 | 13 | 22.08 | 3 |
| Top(4)Contribution(%) | 13 | 51.47% | 62.50% |
| Target | 180 | 140 | 170 | 150 | 153 | 140 | 206 | 138 |
| Asking Rate | 9.00 | 7.00 | 8.50 | 7.50 | 7.70 | 7.00 | 10.30 | 6.90 |
| Teams | ENG | NZ | ENG | AUS | SA | PAK | AUS | S L |
| Score @ 6th over | 29/2 | 34/1 | 36/3 | 21/2 | 46/2 | 31/2 | 42/3 | 30/1 |
| Score @10th over | 55/3 | 56/3 | 72/3 | 45/3 | 73/3 | 58/3 | 64/6 | 51/2 |
| Score@15th over | 110/3 | 99/4 | 106/7 | 82/5 | 107/5 | 92/6 | 121/8 | 72/6 |
| End of Inns | 164/4(20) | 139/7(20) | 150/9(20) | 117/7(20) | 151/10(19.5) | 123/7920) | 131/10(16.4) | 101/10(18.4) |
