India, Feb. 20 -- This has been a strange T20 World Cup that has witnessed only seven 200-plus totals in 40 matches, reinforcing a trend where controlled aggression outperforms unchecked power. Scoring rates have been high, but successful sides have paired boundary frequency with wicket preservation and phase-wise acceleration. Bowlers, especially medium pacers and spinners, have had a big say so far. While totals over 190 have been defended, sub-160 scores have rarely been match-winning. And the bar is really high here. Look no further than Afghanistan, who exited the tournament as the only team that could neither defend (against New Zealand) nor chase (against South Africa, which ended in two Super Overs) a 180+ score.

Controlled domin...