With the group stage of the 2021 T20 Blast having come to a close, we’ve picked out a team featuring the best individual performers in the tournament so far.

The side is made up of those who raised their performances game after game in the group stages of the Blast.

Josh Inglis (wk) – Leicestershire

14 matches, 531 runs @ 48.27, SR: 175.82

Currently the leading run-scorer in the tournament, Inglis also had the second-best strike rate among batsmen with more than 400 runs in the group stage. The Australian is also the only batsman in this year’s tournament to have hit multiple centuries.

Alex Hales – Nottinghamshire

14 matches, 463 runs @ 46.30, SR: 179.45

While he continues to be ignored by England, Hales has been turning up the heat in T20 leagues consistently. After scoring 139 runs in just four games at a strike rate nearing 172 in the Pakistan Super League earlier this year, Hales has carried forward his form into the T20 Blast as well, with only three men having hit more runs in the tournament so far.

Finn Allen – Lancashire

13 matches, 399 runs @ 33.25, SR: 159.60

The 22-year-old New Zealand batsman – who made his T20I debut earlier this year – continues to impress with his fireworks at the top of the order. He finished the group stage of the Blast as Lancashire’s leading run-scorer and six-hitter.

Marnus Labuschagne – Glamorgan

8 matches, 390 runs @ 55.71, SR: 140.79 | 9 wickets @ 21.44, ER: 8.77

The Australia Test No.3 showed off his T20 credentials in this year’s Blast, finishing as Glamorgan’s leading run-scorer at a healthy strike rat. His leg-breaks remain handy too as he finished as his county’s second-highest wicket-taker.

Glenn Phillips – Gloucestershire

12 matches, 500 runs @ 55.55, SR: 163.39

Phillips was sublime in the group stage.  If he wasn’t smashing bowlers with outrageous reverse scoops or taking flying catches with his left hand, he was hitting sixes for fun. He hit 36 maximums in the group stage, 12 more than any other player.

Harry Brook – Yorkshire

12 matches, 485 runs @ 80.83, SR: 150.15

Brook finished as the third-highest run-scorer in the group stage, thriving in the Yorkshire middle order. Beyond a fine strike rate is a staggering average, which shows how difficult it has been to dislodge the 22-year-old while he’s been in full flow.

Samit Patel – Nottinghamshire

14 matches, 305 runs @ 33.88, SR: 134.95 | 15 wickets @ 21.33, ER: 6.66

The veteran all-rounder has the best economy rate in the tournament among bowlers with least 13 wickets in the tournament, while his batting record is impressive too.

Calvin Harrison – Nottinghamshire

14 matches, 18 wickets @ 13.94, ER: 6.78

No other bowler with as many wickets as Harrison has a better average or economy rate. The leg-spinner was signed on a three-month deal in June but quickly awarded a two-year extension earlier this month.

Naveen-ul-Haq – Leicestershire

14 matches, 26 wickets @ 17.57, ER: 8.67

Though slightly on the expensive side, the Afghan made a mark in his first season as a county player, finishing as the leading wicket-taker in the tournament.

Jake Ball – Nottinghamshire

9 matches, 18 wickets @ 15.44, ER: 9.37

Ball has an economy rate of over nine — the highest among the top nine wicket-takers of the tournament — but his strike rate of 9.8 makes him a must-have in this team.

Sam Cook – Essex

13 matches, 20 wickets @ 18.25, ER: 7.82

The bowler has impressed in the Blast and was handed a Wildcard deal in The Hundred as a result. Cook seems to have cracked the T20 code after plenty of success with Essex in red-ball cricket.

 

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