The T20 World Cup has ended, and England’s world dominance in white ball cricket shone through again as Jos Buttler led his side to the three Lions first World Cup win since 2010.
This means that, England are the first nation to be reigning World Champions in both limited overs competitions.
Here is ParkLife Sports’ Team of the Tournament.
Jos Buttler (Captain)
The England captain had a slower start to the tournament, having wiped the floor with Australia in England’s warm-up matches. As always, the opener produced two match-winning innings at the most crucial times for England in their must-win Group A match against New Zealand and his unbeaten 80 in the semi-final against India. His fearlessness in the final to ramp Naseem for a maximum, proves his title of ‘The Universe Jos.’ Ending up as England’s highest run scorer with 225 runs at 144: Buttler is a worthy man to lift the trophy.
Max O’Dowd
The Netherlands owe a large part of their success in this tournament to O’Dowd who consistently showed his skill as the associate nation made reached the ‘Super 12’s’ for the second successive tournament. Top scoring in their qualifier opener against the UAE, and his 35 against Namibia all but sealed passage to the main tournament. His 71* was his top score but it wasn’t enough to beat Sri Lanka. Baron in the opening group games, his 52 helped the Dutch Lions to their first win in the Super 12’s, before his finest knock of only 29 helped see the nation’s second-best ever win, as they defeated South Africa by 13 runs.
Ben Stokes
Has there ever been a man more suited to the big occasions for England? Simply, no. Stokes’ second World Cup-winning innings in three years helped the Three Lions to the trophy. His 42* during England’s must-win match against Sri Lanka was excellently paced whilst everyone else was losing wickets around him. His finest moments came again in the final, this time doing the job in regulation innings, as he scored the winning runs to prove why he is the man for the biggest occasions. The memories of 2016 are almost forgotten.
Suryakumar Yadav
His skills have been forever brewing in the IPL, and the 2022 World Cup finally allowed Yadav to show his worth to the world. He finished as the third-highest run scorer, behind only O’Dowd and teammate Virat Kohli, with his 239 runs coming at a lightning strike rate of 189. Unbeaten scores of 51 and 61 against Zimbabwe and The Netherlands saw off the associate nations, whilst his highest score of 68 came in his one-man fight against South Africa.
Glenn Phillips
Gloucestershire is lucky to have a man of such talent to represent the county. He scores runs, gets wickets, and is one of the best fielders in the sport. Phillips was the first to score a century in the tournament, as his 104 dismantled Sri Lanka into surrender, whilst his 62 in the loss against England seemed unfair for a man who was battling almost individually at the crease at times. Let’s not forget his superman-esque catch in the competition’s opener against hosts and rivals Australia.
Sikandar Raza
Zimbabwe have been quiet in recent years, having been suspended from the 2021 edition, but the African nation found their way into the second round for the first ever time in its T20 history. The monumental team effort had its star, and that man was Raza. His man-of-the-match performance in the nation’s epic one-run victory against finalists Pakistan, taking 3/25 in his four overs, was enough to claim his position in our team. Opening the tournament with 82 off 48 against Ireland and 40 runs in the victory against Scotland, pushed his nation into the Super12’s.
Shadab Khan
Pakistan’s tricky spinner is always a showman on the pitch. He doesn’t get much light on the ball, and his now famous ‘99k leggies’ have proved trouble for everyone he has come up against. 11 wickets in the tournament was the highest of any spinner during the Super12, taking three-fers against The Netherlands and Zimbabwe pairing up with 52 with the bat and 2/16 with the ball against South Africa helped Pakistan into a final that looked almost impossible after the opening group matches.
Sam Curran
Player of the tournament, and man of the match in the final, the 24-year-old has been a special cricketer since the age of 16 for Surrey and shone in Australia in an unfamiliar role for England. Becoming a death bowler for the first time at the highest level in such high-stake circumstances, he passed the test with flying colours. 3/12 with the ball in the World Cup Final was exceptional for the all-rounder, swinging the game towards his side at the crucial time. Having been an opener in the IPL and a regular at number three for Surrey in the Blast, his adaptability is exponential for England in all three formats. The boy will be the worlds best all-rounder at some point of his career.
Wanindu Hasaranga
Sri Lanka had a difficult start in the qualifiers, losing to Namibia, but Hasaranga had taken wickets all the way through the tournament. His 3/8 decimated the UAE and 3/28 in the winner takes all match against The Netherlands proved vital for Sri Lanka’s progression. He kept the dream of a semi-final alive with his 3/13 against Afghanistan, whilst his 2/23 shook England but was not enough to secure progression.
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Anrich Nortje
Tall, strong, and scarily quick, Nortje converted his excellence in test match cricket into his more familiar T20 setting. Looking like the strongest team in the tournament at one point, the South African collapse at the end of the group stage was at no fault of the express-pace bowler. He blew Bangladesh away with a bowling performance of 4/10, and his 4/41 in the penultimate game against Pakistan looked to be enough to push his nation through to the semi-finals before South Africa’s monumental batting collapse resulted in an embarrassing loss to The Netherlands. If the shambolic batting line-up of the South African’s sorted themselves out, it could have been Nortje picking up player of the Tournament.

Shaheen Afridi
Battling against the odds to be fit in the time of the world cup, Afridi’s participation was key to Pakistan, heading the best bowling attack in the tournament. At 22, the youngster has the world at his feet. His skill is undeniable and at crucial moments can be Pakistan’s match-winner. 11 wickets in the competition seems criminally low for how well he has consistently bowled. 3/14 and 4/22 against South Africa and Bangladesh saw Pakistan through to an unlikely semi-final. Helping dismantle the New Zealand batting card with 2/24 forced a replay of the 1992 World Cup Final against England. His catch in the final, to dismiss Harry Brook, saw him agitate a previous knee injury, leaving him unable to bowl his final two overs.
12th man: Paul Van Meekeren
Gloucestershire’s paceman stood out for The Netherlands with the ball and surprisingly bat. Making The Netherlands loss’ look respectable, picking up 11 wickets in his seven matches. 3/29 in their win over Zimbabwe was key to success and his knock of 24 put some respect on this nation’s match against Bangladesh.