Tim Southee got a lot of tap in his initial years as a T20 bowler but has come of age now. Tim Southee has decent numbers in T20 International Cricket, having picked up 111 wickets from 92 matches at an average of 24.58 and an economy rate of 8.19, but the numbers are not extraordinary.
In fact, whenever he was picked in the IPL over the years, he went for plenty. In 2019, he conceded 183 runs at an economy rate of 13.11. In 2018 and 2017 as well, he had an economy rate of 9.0 and 9.6 respectively.
Southee hadn't had a great T20 World Cup over the years as well but turned things around this time, finishing with 8 wickets from 7 matches at an average of 22.62 and an impressive economy rate of 6.50.
Southee has had to adapt his T20 game and add several more tricks to his repertoire in order to succeed. It also helped him game that the ball was holding in the surface in the UAE - something that boosts Southee's bowling immensely.
"You're always looking to evolve and get better, finding ways to improve your game - especially when you've been playing for a while," Southee said during the World Cup. "Sides start to work you out after a period of time so you have to keep adapting, keep learning, and keep enjoying it: the willingness to learn and the hunger to keep getting better has always been there for me. We look to swing the new ball. There's been a little bit there at times but when you play in this part of the world, you go in with the mindset that there's not going to be a lot so that if it is moving around a bit, it becomes easier."
"It's a fine line in the powerplay between getting too full and looking for some swing but at all three venues, hard lengths have been the toughest to hit. At the death, it's changed. You have to keep learning: when I first started, the low full toss was considered a half-decent delivery at the end. Now, guys can hit 360 degrees and can hit so well that your margin for error in terms of your yorker is so small. That presents opportunities to come up with new things: I've been working on a knuckleball, off cutter and leg cutter. To have those options is a really good thing going into that death phase."
