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  • The new season has been a harsh reminder of why T20 can be such a frustrating format.

    After dominating the competition to win it last season I was optimistic coming in afresh with largely the same players in good form, but I've been annihilated. My batsmen all look like blind amputees trying to hit the ball so far; on 6 bars they barely score anything and going up to 7 pretty much makes them get out instantly. This has been in good conditions too. The highlight had to be getting all out in 7 overs for the fantastic score of 34, and it was a sunny day I thought would be good for batting! I've been bowled out below 100 multiple times.

    My bowlers, despite using the exact same approach as last year, have been nowhere near as effective. Never mind bowling the AI out below 100, I've had a few teams get into the 180s and others around 150. I have held some teams to 139 - 145 when I bowled first but they proved to be winning scores as my batsmen couldn't chase that.

    I'm currently rock bottom with 2 wins and no chance of making the knockout stages.

    It's hard to pinpoint what the difference is, given I kept my approach the same. Maybe I was lucky last year and the AI all entered in poor form, while this year they were in better form? My aggressive batsmen who scored well last year all dropped to 0-1 star form after a bunch of ducks and single figure scores in the first few matches this time so they've been warming the bench since then. Unfortunately the replacements haven't done much better. It was disappointing as I'd primed them with coaching and rests to enter the T20 matches at full fitness and good form.

    Anyhow, I thought I was getting somewhere with this format after runs of QF-SF-W but this has been a timely reminder that sometimes nothing works!

    Comment


    • Does anyone ever successfully chase down totals of over 200? I don't think I've ever done it in any edition. In fact, I often feel like the larger the opposition's total when they bat first, the worse my reply. Case in point, the game I've just played I bowled first and conceded 201, and in reply stuttered lamely to 110/9 off the full 20 overs. And yes this is still my same batting line-up that only two games previously scored over 200 themselves!

      Any tips/tricks specifically for chasing very big totals as opposed to setting them?

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      • Originally posted by Jobi1K View Post
        Does anyone ever successfully chase down totals of over 200? I don't think I've ever done it in any edition. In fact, I often feel like the larger the opposition's total when they bat first, the worse my reply. Case in point, the game I've just played I bowled first and conceded 201, and in reply stuttered lamely to 110/9 off the full 20 overs. And yes this is still my same batting line-up that only two games previously scored over 200 themselves!

        Any tips/tricks specifically for chasing very big totals as opposed to setting them?
        Nah much like real life it’s a low percentage job and you get no where near the total because batsmen fold to scoreboard pressure. I just swing hard and hope for best. Think more likely to happen online against a human player than offline against the AI

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        • I feel your pain Chris. One of the hard things about CC is that you never truly know whether the problem is that you're doing something horribly wrong, or you've just had a run of bad luck (or bad players).

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          • I don't think I've chased down many/any high scores. It feels like any time the AI puts up 160+ when batting first, mine crumble to that scoreboard pressure. I did get close trying to chase down 186 (I made it to 182) in perfect batting conditions but the final few overs I was down to my bowlers who swung and missed.

            Depending on conditions, so far in CC21 I find that if I can hold the AI to the 120s or lower I expect to beat them. 130s-140s is where I still hope to win but if conditions are tough they can still be winning scores when put up first. Once it gets to the 150s, 160s and above it gets much tougher for me to balance the necessary score rate with keeping wickets intact.

            That said, I play the County game so I can imagine those playing Internationals see higher scores.

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            • Yes I have very similar experiences, although I like to think i've been getting a little better lately just by being a little more aggressive at the start of the innings and picking players more on form than on talent (plus carrying a larger squad so that I can rotate out of form players). I can sometimes stretch to scores of about 160 but that really is my upper limit and has been for pretty much ever edition of CC.

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              • Originally posted by Raver View Post
                I feel your pain Chris. One of the hard things about CC is that you never truly know whether the problem is that you're doing something horribly wrong, or you've just had a run of bad luck (or bad players).
                Think it's often a combination of all factors!

                I've just finished the Big Bash season I've been posting about recently in this thread, and I don't remember ever having such an infuriatingly inconsistent campaign. There was the game where I made over 200 for the first time in this edition, followed shortly by the one I mentioned in my last post where I made 110/9 off the full 20 overs, then just after that I moved a couple of people round in the batting order and made 210/0 (first time I can ever remember managing to have both my openers carry their bats for the full innings!). I went into the final game needing a win to have a shot at qualifying for the final stages, but got to that game and all of a sudden found 6 of my best players called up to national teams. Put in a valiant effort with my severely weakened team but lost on the penultimate ball, and missed out on qualification by 0.5 points!! So frustrating! Does the Big Bash clash that much with international series in real life??

                Comment


                • Originally posted by Jobi1K View Post

                  Think it's often a combination of all factors!

                  I've just finished the Big Bash season I've been posting about recently in this thread, and I don't remember ever having such an infuriatingly inconsistent campaign. There was the game where I made over 200 for the first time in this edition, followed shortly by the one I mentioned in my last post where I made 110/9 off the full 20 overs, then just after that I moved a couple of people round in the batting order and made 210/0 (first time I can ever remember managing to have both my openers carry their bats for the full innings!). I went into the final game needing a win to have a shot at qualifying for the final stages, but got to that game and all of a sudden found 6 of my best players called up to national teams. Put in a valiant effort with my severely weakened team but lost on the penultimate ball, and missed out on qualification by 0.5 points!! So frustrating! Does the Big Bash clash that much with international series in real life??
                  Yes. It is so frustrating not getting to watch the best players in T20.
                  I remember Aaron Finch was dominating big bash and the Renegades were headed for finals then he got called up to the ODI team and away they fell.
                  Happens usually every year!
                  ===========

                  ~I Love Lamp~

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                  • Does anyone else think that the engine has changed?

                    I've made 200+ scores over 6 times this week alone online. Including two scores of 250+

                    Before the last two weeks I'd had one T20 century in nearly 100 games and now I've had three in a week.

                    I've not changed my tactics at all either...

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                    • I don't know if anything has changed but my scores are the other way. My record in the last 3 seasons is W-G9-G9; I've finished rock bottom the last 2 years after winning it previously, and I'm struggling to figure out why as I've largely used the same players with the same approach and kept a close eye on form.

                      From this season I just finished I bowled first in 13/14 matches. Of those matches I did bowl the AI out before the full 20 overs 7 times with the lowest score being 78 (which I went on to win as my easiest match) and the highest bowled out being 137 twice (I won both those). I did still manage to lose after bowling them out first for 113 and 120 as my responses to those were only 104 and 112. The average AI runs when I bowled first were 146 across the 13 matches, with a high score of 209. The 2x 137 chases were the highest tallies I chased down to win, anything higher than that I failed to chase down and lost.

                      The 1 match I batted first I scored 134 and lost.

                      Looking at the previous season where I also finished rock bottom was a very similar story. The average AI runs when I bowled first were 144 and the highest score I chased down was 136. All the matches where they scored 140+ I lost. In that year I did bat first 4 times for an average of 85 (34 being my lowest and 139 the highest). I lost all the 4 matches I batted first that year.

                      Looking at the numbers it seems like batting is my real weakness. For the occasional matches where the AI has scored in the 180s, 190s or 200+ I don't expect to win. They've played great and that's fine. My disappointment is not being able to get any wins when the target has been in the 140s/150s, and failing to chase down that 113 and 120 this year was a real kick in the teeth (especially as I had good conditions for the 120 attempt).

                      My issue seems to be that on 6 bars (highest yellow) my run rate is too low. I might not lose wickets quickly but even trying 6 bars for a few balls or the first over of a batsman seems to set them behind the pace and I never catch up. On the other hand, if I start them on 7 or higher (in the orange) I lose far too many wickets really quickly.

                      Chasing runs at the end has been a glaring issue for me. I've had numerous matches where I've been close, maybe needing ~14 runs off the last 2 overs or something like that but my batsmen in the orange bars just swing and miss or lose their wicket. I do play ball by ball a lot and I've lost count now of the number of times I've reached the last few overs needing a fairly reasonable run rate (7-8 per over) and put the bars to 8 or 9 to try to secure that. Then I watch batsmen who have been ticking along at about 6 runs per over suddenly fail to even score a single run. From the animations as soon as they're on 8-9 bars it looks like they're going for the 4s and 6s every shot but missing every time. On the other hand, keeping them at 6 or 7 just doesn't give enough run rate.

                      I may just need to look for new T20 batsmen but they're all Aggressive with decent past stats and a lot of them played well the year I won it. It's just since then that they seem to have collectively forgotten how to play T20 at higher aggression bars.

                      I'll have to have a think about what I can do different next year.

                      Comment


                      • Originally posted by galvatron View Post
                        Does anyone else think that the engine has changed?

                        I've made 200+ scores over 6 times this week alone online. Including two scores of 250+

                        Before the last two weeks I'd had one T20 century in nearly 100 games and now I've had three in a week.

                        I've not changed my tactics at all either...
                        Yes. There has been some kind of shift which has happened. I wouldn't say 200+ scores most of the times <for me> but yes BIG scores. Much easier to play, hit your shots.
                        On the flip side the Legends game seems to have changed as well, not sure if its against certain opposition or in general - its far more harder to score.

                        I've noticed these changes.

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                        • I find batting the hardest part to get right and I've often found that the batting line-up shifts from season to season in a way the bowling line-up doesn't.

                          I think part of it comes down to how well certain combinations are working. I might have a 4 who has strong averages and can put on a big score but only if the top three get the stronger bowlers out of the way first.

                          I currently have a aggressive batsman who always starts slow, getting say 4 off his first 10 balls but then taking off and hitting 20 off the next 10. This can be fine unless he comes in with three or four overs to spare and he might not get the balls needed to get going.

                          It is fruatrating but I think it comes down to selection more than tactics.

                          Comment


                          • Originally posted by saviopaes View Post

                            Yes. There has been some kind of shift which has happened. I wouldn't say 200+ scores most of the times <for me> but yes BIG scores. Much easier to play, hit your shots.
                            On the flip side the Legends game seems to have changed as well, not sure if its against certain opposition or in general - its far more harder to score.

                            I've noticed these changes.
                            I've wondered that. I've been playing international T20s for a bit but just switched to my English domestic save. Over the previous eight seasons I was conceding on average 127 runs a match, this last season it was 144. On the other hand if I batted through an innings (rather than chased down a low total) I was averaging 148, this season it is 152 which is a negligible difference.

                            Higher scores overall would fit real life a bit more

                            Comment


                            • Interesting that you conceded an average of 144 runs when bowling first; that's right in line with my last 2 seasons at 146 and 144. The bowling side does feel more consistent as my good T20 bowlers put up similar numbers year after year while my weak T20 bowlers also give up similarly higher numbers each year if I give them another go. My star T20 bowler has economy of 6.09, 6.41 and 4.98 over the past 3 years while one of my core FC bowlers has seen 8.60, 9.13 and 8.17 when I've tried to use him.

                              The batting side has much more variance for me as someone can be my star batsman in the format one year and one of the worst the next. My bowlers are definitely more set as long as I keep hold of the same players while I've found it difficult to nail down a batting lineup. My batsman who on paper should be my strongest in the format has had a great year where he averaged 73.4 at 136% SR, often winning matches while staying NO as an opener, and then a year averaging 14.4 where he repeatedly got out extremely early. Another one topped my batting charts (and was 2nd in the competition) scoring 441 runs at a 63.0 average one year. The next year, despite being in good form, he managed 49 runs at 24 average and a terribly 79% SR before I had to drop him. Some years my aggressive T20 'specialists' can't hit a damn thing and then after losing a few and rotating in some less aggressive FC players they start getting wins. Another year I might try those FC players from the start as they did well before only to see them do nothing.

                              I think it's definitely a format I need to spend more time thinking about on the batting side, as I feel my bowling is consistent enough that I should be winning more matches.

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                              • I have found that in the English domestic T20s that if I keep a team below 150 I'll win the match 95% of the time. Between 150-160 it's more like 60% and it tails off from there.

                                If I bat first then anything over 130 is defendable but it is only once I get over 180 that it is 100%

                                So when I'm struggling below 150 I know there are issues with my squad. I always seem to have more variation with the batsmen and it's only with really top class players that I seem to find it easy to bat consistently.

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