The Group Stages of the ICC T20I World Cup 2026 have concluded and all 8 teams have qualified for the Super 8s. These group Stages have been some of the best cricket that have been played in an ICC Tournament. There have been some incredible batting performances on pitches where there has been bounce and turn for the bowlers. The heartening thing is that the associate nations have produced excellent performances.
Let’s look at the Top 5 Batting Performances in Group Stages of ICC T20I World Cup
Pathum Nissanka vs Australia (100* of 52 Balls)
The number 1 innings of the ICC T20I World Cup so far has to be this knock by Pathum Nissanka. He scored the first hundred of the ICC T20I World Cup when he smashed 100* from just 52 balls against Australia. Sri Lanka were chasing more than 180 in a must win match. Pathum Nissanka showed why he is amongst the best batters in the world. Wickets were falling around him and Pathum Nissanka stayed calm and Sri Lanka won the match with more than an over to spare. They will be in the Super 8s. He smashed 10 fours and 5 sixes at a strike rate of 192.
SuryaKumar Yadav vs USA (84* of 49 balls)
It was the first day of the ICC T20I World Cup and it was India vs USA. India were batting first and they were stuck at 77/6. It was looking like India will be bowled all out under a 100 by the great bowling of the USA team. However there was one man standing in the way and that was the Indian captain. He hit 84* from 49 balls in this innings. He hit 10 fours and 4 sixes in this innings. He was batting at a strike rate of 171. SKY ensured that India reached a score of 161. He showed why he is one of the best of all time.
Sahibzada Farhan vs Namibia (100* of 58 balls)
Pakistan were under tremendous pressure as they had lost the match to India. They needed to win this match against Namibia to stay in the tournament. And Sahibzada Farhan made sure that Pakistan would qualify for the Super 8s. He hit a brilliant 100* from 58 balls. Sahibzada Farhan smashed 11 fours and 4 sixes in his unbeaten knock. He has a strike rate of 172. This enabled Pakistan to reach a score of 199. The bowlers did the rest and Pakistan won by 102 runs. Sahibzada Farhan stayed from the first ball till the last ball of the innings.
Ishan Kishan vs Pakistan (77 of 40 balls)
The knock which will be remembered most from the group stages is surely this out of the world innings by Ishan Kishan against Pakistan. This knock was played at a pitch where the other batters had a strike rate of less than 120 on average. Ishan Kishan took the match away from Pakistan and the pitch away from the equation. He smashed 77 runs from just 40 balls. He hit 10 fours and 3 sixes which means he hit 58 runs in boundaries. He was batting at a strike rate of 192. The shots that he played will be remembered and it was because of his innings that India reached a match winning score of 175.
Yuvraj Samra vs New Zealand (110 of 65 balls)
This was the highest individual score in the Group Stages but this knock didn’t result in the win for the team of Canada. Yuvraj Samra made a name for himself in this innings against one of the best teams in the world in New Zealand. He hit 11 fours and 6 sixes in his innings meaning 80 of his runs were in boundaries. He had a strike rate of 165 in this knock. Yuvraj Samra scored 110 runs out of a team total of 173. That is sensational and more than 60% of the total runs. He was named after Yuvraj Singh and the idol must be proud of this left-handed batter from Canada.
