The penultimate over of a T20 innings, over No. 19, is crucial toward the end. Every time the game gets close, especially in the second innings, the 19th over comes into sharp focus.
Why then are these 6 balls, which make up only 2.5% of the game, given such significance? It was demonstrated by India’s two Super 4 games (against Pakistan and Sri Lanka), which resulted in their elimination from the Asia Cup.
In both of those games, India used the seasoned Bhuvneshwar Kumar to bowl the 19th over. He was able to play with 26 and 21 runs. The idea was to give the younger Arshdeep Singh more of a cushion in the final over by limiting the opposition to single-digit returns.
Kumar attempted twice but failed both times, losing 19 and 14 runs. 7 runs were never going to be enough, despite the fact that Arshdeep’s yorkers kept India in the game till the penultimate ball in both games.
The defeats India suffered before to the World Cup would have made the data scientists in the team room work extra hard. They would have hoped to sneak a victory in at least one of the two matches, given they had 10–11 runs per over to defend in the final four overs.
Rohit Sharma, however, was not going to hold Kumar responsible for the defeats. Bhuvi has been playing for us for a long time and has won games for us in the final overs, so he added, “One or two games…we shouldn’t be judgmental.”
Meezan 
Anamika