V.O.C. Rotterdam were crowned Kings of Europe when winning the inaugural European Cricket League – ECL19 - at La Manga Club in Spain. Aided by the astute twitter analysis of Shahzad Mansoor, let’s delve deeper into how exactly the dominant Netherlands champions won ECL19 in the exciting, high-octane T10 format.
Here is everything VOC Rotterdam did right to win the #ECL 2019:@EuropeanCricket@danielweston83
— Shahzad Mansoor (@shahzad_mansoor) March 25, 2020
Let’s dig a little deep.
Read thread pic.twitter.com/pgU6arnoya
Heavy scorers
V.O.C Rotterdam blasted 675 runs over five ECL19 games at an average of 135, including a spectacular undefeated total of 222 in 10 overs batting first in the final against a bewildered SG Findorff from Germany.
VOC Rotterdam scored 675 runs in total in the 5 games they played in #ECL 2019. Though they played one more game than others (except SG Findorff EV who were the other finalists). But hey, didn’t they deserve to be in finals for being unbeaten throughout the tournament? pic.twitter.com/3YvzSqtp9F
— Shahzad Mansoor (@shahzad_mansoor) March 25, 2020
Insane Power hitting
In T10 cricket, scoring runs in ultra-quick fashion is key. V.O.C Rotterdam did exactly that, scoring at a rate of more than 2.75 runs per ball, scoring 80% in boundaries, blasting 39 fours and 66 sixes – That’s a sum total of 105 boundaries from 245 balls faced in the entire tournament - a 43% conversion rate of balls / boundaries. INSANE!
If you’re playing a 10 over game scoring runs in quick time is what matters. And VOC Rotterdam did exactly that. They’re way ahead of every other team, scoring more than 2.75 runs per ball. That’s just ridiculous! pic.twitter.com/Kw42F1pYbb
— Shahzad Mansoor (@shahzad_mansoor) March 25, 2020
Top order Control
Netherlands internationals Max O’Dowd and Scott Edwards were both outstanding at the top of the order for V.O.C Rotterdam. O’Dowd won player of the tournament, while Edwards hit an electrified 139 not out in the final, a WORLD RECORD individual T10 score. Overall, V.O.C Rotterdam lost on average 2.4 wickets per match, the fewest naturally.
Now scoring quick runs is an art but a team can only do that when they have wickets in hand. Righto, VOC Rotterdam had it under control. They lost only about 3 wickets per match, least than any other team in the #ECL 2019. pic.twitter.com/8SIZRSoZrT
— Shahzad Mansoor (@shahzad_mansoor) March 25, 2020
Bats chipping in
Scoring 20+ quick runs is always useful in T10 cricket. V.O.C. Rotterdam scored almost a quarter of the sum total of 55 20+ scores in ECL19.
Again, in a 10 over game, scoring 20+ quick runs can be considered good enough. Out of the total 55 20+ scored in #ECL 2019, Rotterdam nearly scored one-fourth of them. pic.twitter.com/W9G8CfSYtN
— Shahzad Mansoor (@shahzad_mansoor) March 25, 2020
Hungry for wickets
Bowlers are restricted to a maximum of two overs in the T10 format, but V.O.C Rotterdam bowlers’ were constantly on the money, picking up wickets at regular intervals - 34 - the most in the tournament and never allowing the opposition time to settle in the middle.
Since #ECL is a T10 format, a bowler is only allowed to bowl 2 overs, hence I’ve only taken a min of 2 wkts. VOC Rotterdam bowlers were right on the money. They got wkts at regular intervals, not allowing their opposition to settle down and get away with the game at any time. pic.twitter.com/4alIGuSjoR
— Shahzad Mansoor (@shahzad_mansoor) March 25, 2020
All these factors meant V.O.C Rotterdam returned triumphantly to the Netherlands as deserved “Kings of Europe” as the first-ever European Cricket League winners.
