ICC T20 World Cup: Five biggest upsets in tournament history

The recently concluded qualifier stage of the 2016 World T20 saw a massive upset when the little-known Oman team stunned the more-fancied Ireland side by chasing a stiff target of 155 at Dharamshala. The Irish had been tipped by many to qualify for the Super 10 stage from Group A and the defeat derailed their whole campaign.We look at five of the other major upsets in previous editions of the ICC T20 World Cup till date.

#5 Netherlands defeating England 2014 World T20

The Netherlands celebrate following victory over England in the England v Netherlands match at the ICC World Twenty20 2014

After their shock win in the opening game of the 2009 World T20 (more on that later) the Dutch came back to sting the English again in the 2014 edition. After being asked to bat first by England captain Stuart Broad, the Netherlands team finished with a fighting total of 133-5 largely due to gritty knocks by Wesley Barresi and Stephan Myburgh.

In their reply, England never managed to get going in their pursuit of the target as Mudassar Bukhari triggered a sensational batting collapse with figures of 3-12. The English side folded for a meagre total of 88.

England would later bow out of the tournament after the group stage with three defeats and a solitary win (over eventual tournament champions Sri Lanka).

#4 India defeating South Africa 2007 World T20

India celebrate as South African batsman Johan van der Wath is sent packing by Harbhajan Singh.

The young Indian side led by MS Dhoni in the absence of senior regulars like Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid, surprised everyone as they went on to win the inaugural World T20 tournament. But the event could have seen an early exit for the team at the hands of the hosts; the South African side which was almost full strength.

While India required a win to progress to the semi-finals, the hosts just needed to finish with a better net run rate than New Zealand to advance. The Indian team received a major setback even before the start of the game when previous match’s hero Yuvraj Singh (who had hit six sixes in a single over) was ruled out for the key fixture at Durban because of injury.

Batting first, India got off to a slow start before a partnership of 85 runs between Rohit Sharma and Dhoni took the side’s total to 153-6 in 20 overs. In response, the Proteas required just 126 to ensure their progression to the semis, and many thought that they could easily surpass India’s total with their experienced batting line up against a not-so-experienced Indian bowling unit. However, RP Singh’s inspired spell of 4-13 was instrumental in leading to a “choke” for the home side as South Africa ultimately ended short of the qualification score of 126 by 10 runs to be eliminated from the tournament.

#3 Hong Kong defeat Bangladesh 2014 World T20

Hong Kong players celebrate the fall of a Bangladeshi wicket during their game in the World T20.

Just like Oman’s shock win over Ireland in the 2016 World T20, the previous edition in 2014 also gifted us an upset win for an unfancied associate team as Hong Kong beat hosts Bangladesh by 2 wickets in a low scoring affair at Chittagong. While Bangladesh did manage to advance to the next stage because of other results in their group, it was an embarrassing loss for the Test playing team in front of their home crowd.

The Hong Kong side had lost both their previous games (against Nepal and Afghanistan) and not many would have given much of a chance against the hosts. Despite an early dismissal of Tamim Iqbal, Bangladesh looked steady and comfortable at the score of 85-3 in the 11th over. But what followed could only be described as a landslide. The host side lost 7 wickets for just 23 runs in the next 6 overs to fold up for 108 with Nadeem Ahmed being the standout bowler with figures of 4-21.

In response, the Hong Kong innings kept stuttering because of regular wickets but eventually managed to overhaul the target with 2 balls to spare to complete a famous victory.

#2 Netherlands defeat England 2009 World T20

The Netherlands team celebrates at Lord’s after their win over England.

The opening game of the second edition of World T20 was played at Lord’s – the Mecca of Cricket and the game saw the hosts England side lose to their lesser fancied fellow European rivals Netherlands on the very last delivery in a thrilling match.

After a century stand by the openers Luke Wright and Ravi Bopara, England posted a total of 162-5 in 20 overs which seemed a very tough task for the Dutch side against the experienced English bowling attack.

However, a brilliant 49 by Tom de Grooth assisted by his fellow batsmen meant that the Netherlands kept the required run rate in check and the side required 7 in the final over. What seemed to be a relatively easy task became nerve wracking as the Dutch managed a single in each of the first 5 deliveries of the Stuart Broad over. Requiring 2 off the final ball, the two batsmen Edgar Schiferli and Ryan ten Doeschate managed to run two thanks to an overthrow by the bowler, and thus sealed a famous win.

#1 Zimbabwe beats Australia 2007 World T20

Brendan Taylor and Elton Chigumbura celebrate Zimbabwe’s win over Australia in 2007

Australia, the holders of the 50-overs World Cup held earlier that the year were considered among the top favourites for the inaugural T20 world event when they arrived to compete with an almost full strength squad. However, the mighty Aussies were in for a shock as a young Zimbabwe side upset the applecarts in their opening match of the tournament at Cape Town.

After opting to bat first, the Kangaroos batting line-up which boasted of star players like Matthew Hayden, Adam Gilchrist, Ricky Ponting, Michael Hussey and Andrew Symonds saw itself being restricted to just 138-9. The low total was possible only thanks to some disciplined bowling by the Zimbabwe attack and also some sharp work behind the stumps by keeper Brendan Taylor.

The Zimbabwe run chase started off well through openers Vusi Sibanda and Taylor, but a flurry of wickets was followed by a rain break. At that point, the Aussies were ahead on the basis of the par score as per Duckworth-Lewis System. However, the rain stopped and play could resume and Taylor continued scoring at a brisk rate to keep pace with the asking rate. 12 runs were required in the final over which was to be bowled by the experienced Nathan Bracken. Taylor hit a boundary off the first ball of the over and later sealed a remarkable victory off the penultimate delivery.

The Zimbabwe team had caused a major upset in their first game in the one-day international World Cup in 1983 by defeating a strong Australian side. And they repeated the feat in their first game of the world event of the new; shortest version of the sport.