Match analysis trends in limited overs professional cricket: A systematic review of technical and tactical performance

The rise of data-driven analytics has created opportunities to understand cricket's technical and tactical dynamics more comprehensively with additional context. The aim of this review was to provide a greater understanding of technical and tactical performance in cricket and highlight consistent trends and contradictions across studies. Following PRISMA guidelines, a systematic search was conducted across five databases - Google Scholar, Web of Science, Scopus, Sport Discus, and PubMed. Forty-seven (n = 47) studies published between 2007 and 2024 met the inclusion criteria. Methodological quality was assessed using a 13-item checklist and inter-rater reliability was verified using Cohen's K. The mean methodological quality of included studies was 81%, with 77% rated excellent. Research predominantly addressed men's cricket, with only three studies involving female players. Research trends indicated increasing integration of contextual and advanced statistical models, improved quantification of performance metrics in all the domains, and emerging attention to pressure and situational variables. This review also highlights several technical and tactical performance aspects that batters, bowlers and fielders can use to become more effective, whilst other practitioners could use them to aid recruitment decisions and inform coaching practice moving forward. Despite growing analytical sophistication, research-practice integration appears to remain limited.