Top 5 Bowling Performances of Cricket World Cup 2015

Here are my Top 5 Memorable Bowling performances from the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015!

Wahab Riaz, 9-0-54-2 against Australia - 3rd Quarter Final

With Australia chasing just 214 to win in their Quarter Final match against Pakistan it seemed that they would romp home with the batting fire power that they possess. But Wahab Riaz had other ideas as he first got David Warner with a short ball that he top edged to third man. Then Wahab had the Aussie skipper Michael Clarke caught at short leg as he tried to evade a nasty bouncer. What followed though was mayhem as Shane Watson was tortured and traumatized by the spell of the World Cup. He was given bouncer after bouncer, each more nasty and pacy than the previous one as Watson's body convulsed in reaction. Had Watson been caught at fine leg while he was still in single figures the match would have panned out differently. Ultimately though, Australia weathered the Wahab storm and won by 6 wickets!

Wahab Riaz breathed fire as he was all over Shane Watson in a 

memorable spell of fast bowling at the Cricket World Cup 2015

Tim Southee, 9-0-33-7 against England - Pool A Match

England had started reasonably well against New Zealand and looked set to make a fist of the game but suddenly Tim Southee jolted them but a wonderful display of swing bowling. He first worked over Moeen Ali giving him a short ball and then pegging his off stump back with a hell of a yorker. Then Bell was taken as the ball first came in and then left him slightly to take the top of off pole. He went on to take 7-33 as he routed the English top order, the ball swing to his whims and fancies!

Trent Boult, 10-3-27-5 against Australia - Pool A Match

New Zealand and Australia met at Auckland in the Pool stage and with short boundaries bowlers were given no chance and a high score was predicted. Australia started reasonably well and were 70 odd for 3 when Trent Boult returned for a second spell. He broke the back of the Aussie middle and lower order in a spell that left the Aussies gasping for breath. That spell read 5-3-3-5 as he snaffled Clarke, Maxwell and Mitch Marsh among others! Australia were eventually bowled out for just 151.

Mitchell Starc, 9-0-28-6 against New Zealand - Pool A Match

In the same match where Boult bowled that magnificent spell, Starc made that match more memorable by almost snatching victory from the jaws of a defeat for the Australian team. He bowled Ross Taylor and Grant Elliott either side of the lunch break and with his yorkers finding the target, the batsmen had to be extremely wary. He bowled Adam Milne and Tim Southee off successive deliveries and had two cracks at Boult but Boult somehow survived and Williamson hit the first ball of the next over for a six to seal the match. Starc took 6-28 but still ended on the losing side!!

James Faulkner, 9-0-36-3 against New Zealand - Final

New Zealand were in trouble early on but they had recovered sufficiently, reaching 150-3 at the start of the batting powerplay, ready to launch an assault. That is when James Faulkner bowled a spell that changed the course of the match and tilted it in Australia's favor with certainty. He first got Ross Taylor caught at first slip and then bowled a peach of a yorker that cleaned up Corey Anderson the very next ball. He later picked up Grant Elliott, who was starting to just open his shoulders, thus punching the final nail in the Kiwi coffin!

Which was your favorite spell from this World Cup? Which bowler do you think bowled that magical spell tilted the match that should have been listed here?

The Top 5 Bowlers of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015

PS - The image used is courtesy www.espncricinfo.com

Top 5 Batting Performances of Cricket World Cup 2015

Here are my Top 5 memorable batting performances from the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015!

Grant Elliott, 84* off 73 balls against South Africa - 1st Semi Final

New Zealand needed 298 runs in 43 overs for a place in the final as South Africa, aided by AB De Villiers, Faf Du Plessis and David Miller had made a big score. New Zealand were provided a rapid start by Brendon McCullum but they soon lost their way stumbling to 149-4 in the 22nd over. With around 150 runs still needed, Grant Elliot forged a partnership with Corey Anderson as they kept the runs coming. But Corey departed just as the match was beginning to fall in New Zealand's lap. Luke Ronchi went soon after. New Zealand still required 29 runs off 17 balls and then 12 off the last over. Grant Elliott was the Ice Man through all the ups and downs of this riveting match as he thumped a six off the penultimate ball off one of the leading bowlers of World Cricket, Dale Steyn, over long on for a huge six. As Dale Steyn slumped to the pitch after the ball, Elliot, like a true warrior, in a moment that epitomized just why we all love sport so much, gave him a helping hand aiding him get to his feet. He had won a cricket match just moments earlier but won hearts of millions across the globe almost immediately too!!

Grant Elliott - That was the Number 1 Innings in the World Cup 2015, wasn't it??

Steven Smith, 65 off 69 balls against Pakistan - 3rd Quarter Final

Although Australia were chasing a small target of just 214 they were in some strife after Finch and Warner had both departed without much contribution. Then the captain was out caught at short leg by a rip snorter of a delivery by Wahab Riaz. With Shane Watson burning in the fire of Wahab Riaz's hell next, Steven Smith cut a serene figure at the other end. He drove the ball as easy as you like and was never troubled right through. If Steven Smith would have gone without scoring much then I think that Australia would have probably lost that game. Steven Smith, that day, showed his class and his temperament and guided Australia's ship with unnerving ease.

Steven Smith, 105 off 93 balls against India - 2nd Semi Final

It was the big Semi Final against India at the SCG and Warner had departed early. With Finch struggling to even lay bat on ball Steven Smith raced to his fifty and then to his hundred off just 89 balls! As other batsmen came and went at the other end, Steven Smith tormented the Indian bowlers like he had done all summer. He toyed with Shami and Yadav and Ashwin was rendered useless as Smith used his feet to unsettle his length. It was a masterclass in how to bat in a knockout game with a panache and class of a seasoned soldier!

AB De Villiers, 162* off 66 balls against West Indies at SCG

South Africa had won the toss and decided to bat first against the West Indians. The Proteas were having a good day but they lost 2 wickets in the same Chris Gayle over, both the set batsmen getting out. Out walked AB De Villiers, the man who had just smashed the fastest hundred in an ODI against the same attack off just 31 balls. carnage followed as De Villiers once again got in to the act. He batted like a man at the peak of his powers and played some absolutely remarkable shots. The West Indian skipper who at one stage had splendid bowling figures of 5-2-9-1 ended up with 10-2-104-1 as he was torn to shreds by his opposite number!

Martin Guptill, 237* off 163 balls against the West Indies - 4th Quarter Final

It was the Quarter Final and there was pressure on New Zealand as McCullum had departed early. Williamson had also not been able to impress and Ross Taylor was struggling for his timing. Martin Guptill decided that it was time for him to impose on the match and the situation. He had started slowly and reached his ton off 111 balls but he just exploded after that. The balls kept disappearing straight as there were no fancy or cute shots attempted. He brought up his 200 off just 152 balls as New Zealand ramped up 393, the highest score in a World Cup knockout match!

Which was your favorite innings from this World Cup? Which batsman do you think played an innings that should have been listed here?

The Top 5 Batsmen of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015

PS - The image used is courtesy www.espncricinfo.com

Top 5 Wicket Takers in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015

Let us see who the Top 5 Bowlers are from ICC Cricket World Cup 2015!!

Mitchell Starc, Australia

Starc bowled with pace and fire and with a difficult left arm angle proved to be nemesis for many a batsmen. He almost made a match defending 150 against the Kiwis by picking 6 wickets in the nail biter at Auckland. He consistently troubled the batsmen with his deadly accurate yorkers and the inswing that he generated at the beginning of the innings. He grabbed 22 wickets in 8 matches at an average of 10.1 at an astonishing economy rate of 3.5!!

Trent Boult, New Zealand

He bowled almost as well as Starc and troubled all the teams in all the matches. He took wickets upfront as he swung the ball prodigiously with an eerie accuracy. The ball danced and hooped as per his wishes and he the ball talk as he wanted to. His most memorable spell was remarkable figures of 5-3-3-5 against the Australians at Auckland. He finished with 22 wickets in 9 matches with an average of 17 and with an economy rate of 4.3!

Umesh Yadav, India

Umesh Yadav was always known to possess pace but he would generally serve a lot of loose balls which meant that he could never maintain the pressure on the batsmen. But in this World Cup he was remarkably consistent and troubled almost every batsman that came up against him. He also bowled accurate yorkers at the death which got him a lot of wickets and meant that India always did well. He took 4 wickets in the Semi Final against the Australians at SCG. He took 18 wickets in 8 matches at an average of almost 18 and an economy rate of almost 5.

Mohammad Shami, India

Mohammad Shami was a revelation in the World Cup as he generated pace and was very accurate. He also managed to swing the ball in the early overs and hit his yorkers at the death. He was instrumental in dismissing Gayle in the match against the West Indies at Perth and how he bamboozled the big Jamaican was a treat to every Indian fans eye! He took 17 wickets in 7 matches at an average of 17.3 and an economy rate of almost 5.

Morne Morkel, South Africa

With Dale Steyn having an unusually quiet World Cup and Vernon Philander injured it was Morne Morkel along with Kyle Abbot who provided South Africa with the wickets. Morkel got the batsmen hopping with his extra bounce and pace. He bowled his heart out throughout but unfortunately his image of crying inconsolably after losing the Semi Final to New Zealand will be the one that will remain imprinted in our hearts. He took 17 wickets in 8 matches at an average of almost 17 with a splendid economy rate of just 4.3!

Jerome Taylor, West Indies

Jerome Taylor was the backbone of West Indian bowling and he provided them with early wickets in almost all the matches. He bowled the teasing line just outside off and swung the ball enough to get the batsmen groping outside his stumps. He also took 17 wickets in 7 matches at an average of almost 19 and an economy rate of almost touching 6.

These were the 5 Top Wicket Takers of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015. Which of these bowler surprised you the most, I was definitely surprised to see two Indian fast bowlers in the top 5!

Here is the list of the Top 5 Run Scorers of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015

Here is how the list of the Top 5 Wicket Takers looked after the first 26 matches

Here is the list of Top 5 Bowlers Till the Quarter Final Matches

Top 5 Run Scorers in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015

Let us see who the Top 5 Run Getters are from ICC Cricket World Cup 2015!!

Martin Guptill, New Zealand

He was not the most in form batsmen leading up to the World Cup and he started off with a string of low scores before cranking it up with a composed century in the last pool game against Bangladesh during a tricky chase. He then smashed the first double century by a Kiwi as he made 237* against the West Indies in the Quarter Final. He finished with 547 runs in 9 matches at an average of 68.37 and a strike rate of almost 105.

Kumar Sangakkara, Sri Lanka

The man who reeled off centuries after century like he was plucking fruits off his backyard tree! He started with a superb century against Bangladesh, then traumatized England in a run chase before making one off the eventual World Champions Australia at SCG in a high run chase and capped off with another one against Scotland. He made a staggering 541 runs in just 7 matches at an average of 108.2 and a strike rate of over 105.

AB De Villiers, South Africa

He was expected to take the batting at this World Cup by storm and he did exactly that. He played an audacious innings against the Irish and the West Indians hitting the ball to the parts of the ground we did not know exist! The fact that he fielded brilliantly and even bowled for the Proteas in addition to leading them just makes his whole effort even more stupendous! He made 482 runs in 8 matches at an average of over 96 and a mind boggling strike rate of almost 150!!

Brendon Taylor, Zimbabwe

He was the lynch pin of the Zimbabwean batting along with Sean Williams. They both held their middle order together and gave a scare to Pakistan and South Africa along with Ireland. Taylor made a sparkling 138 in his last match for the Zimbabweans against the Indians where he smashed them to all parts of the ground! He made 433 runs in just 6 matches at an average of 72.2 and a strike rate of 107!

Shikhar Dhawan, India

Shikhar Dhawan hit a century against the South Africans at the MCG and then also hit one against the Irish. Although he was not in form leading up to the World Cup but he found his mojo and made some important contributions for India at the top of the order. He made 412 runs in 8 matches at an average of almost 52 and a strike rate of almost 92!

In this list, I guess Shikhar is the one who made the least impact of all the batsmen. Steven Smith lies in the 6th spot with 402 runs in 8 matches at an average of 67 and a strike rate of 92 but he made telling contributions in the Aussie victory as he made a fifty against the Pakistanis in the Quarter Final, a century in the Semi Final against the Indians and an unbeaten half century in the Final against the Kiwis!!

Here is how the list of the Top 5 Batsmen looked after the first 26 matches.

Here is the list of Top 5 Batsmen Till the Quarter Final Matches

Top 5 Run Scorers and Wicket Takers Till The Quarter Finals - ICC Cricket World Cup 2015

Let us see who are the Top 5 Batsmen who have plundered the most Runs and the Top 5 Bowlers who have snared the most Wickets up until the Quarter Final Matches:

Batsman	Team	Matches Played	Runs Scored	Average	Strike Rate	100’s/ 50’s
Kumar Sangakkara	Sri Lanka	7	541	108.2	105.9	4/ 0
Martin Guptill	New Zealand	7	498	83.0	110.4	2/ 1
Brendan Taylor	Zimbabwe	6	433	72.1	106.9	2/ 1
AB De Villiers	South Africa	7	417	83.4	144.2	1/ 2
Tillakaratne Dilshan	Sri Lanka	7	395	65.8	96.5	2/ 1

Bowler	Team	Matches Played	Wickets Taken	Average	Economy Rate	5 Fers
Trent Boult	New Zealand	7	19	14.6	4.2	1
Mitchell Starc	Australia	6	18	09.7	3.7	1
Mohammad Shami	India	6	17	13.3	4.4	0
Jerome Taylor	West Indies	7	17	19.3	5.7	0
Wahab Riaz	Pakistan	7	16	23.0	5.5	0

Kumar Sangakkara - A Run Making Machine

Kumar Sangakkara doesn't seem too impressed by his own current form going by his celebrations after his latest hundred against Scotland at Hobart. He has now accomplished a small matter of 4 consecutive hundreds, that too in the showpiece ICC event of Cricket - ICC Cricket World Cup!! Stuff of Champions, really, he is a legend and definitely one of the very best batsmen of our era. His hunger and determination and the amount of hard work he puts in, in the nets, is an inspiration to all the young up coming players. He is a freak, a genius and a batsman par excellence.

PS - The image used is courtesy www.espncricinfo.com

Top 5 Wicket Takers after 26 matches - ICC Cricket World Cup 2015

Let us see who the Top 5 Wicket Takers are after the first 26 matches of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015!!

Tim Southee, The Kiwi fast bowler who has so far put on a wonderful display of swing bowling takes the first position with 13 wickets in 4 matches. He demolished England with a career best of 7-33 at Wellington where he had the ball on a rope! He is averaging under 14 per wicket and conceding under 5 runs per over which are some serious numbers considering the ease with which teams are scoring in the World Cup.

Mitchell Starc has taken 10 wickets at an average of under 10 and an economy rate of under 4!! Those are splendid figures and it was his 6-fer that nearly won Australia that nail biter against New Zealand and his pace and pin point yorkers are something that batsmen from all around the world will be wary of in the upcoming games.

The Black Caps left armer, Trent Boult and the bowling partner of Tim Southee takes the 3rd position with 10 wickets in 4 matches. He too has bowled superbly and it has been a joy the New Zealand new bowling pair tear in to the opposition batsmen. He destroyed Australia with that memorable spell of 5-3-3-5 in Auckland! He is going at an excellent economy rate of just 4 runs per over and is averaging under 15 per wicket.

Trent Boult has been a force to reckon with at the Cricket World Cup 2015

We saw that Shaiman Anwar from UAE is at the number one position in the the Top 5 Run Getters after the first 26 matches of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015!! Josh Davey, from Scotland takes the 4th position of the highest wicket takers with 9 wickets and is another proud moment for all those Associate Nations. He has bowled accurately and has swung the ball enough to keep the batsmen guessing. He is averaging under 16 per wicket and is going at 5.25 runs per over.

Morne Morkel from South Africa takes the 5th position with 9 wickets. With Dale Steyn a little off the boil in these initial stages of the World Cup 2015 Morne has been pretty consistent and accurate. He has not bagged a big haul in any of the games but has been in the wickets in all the games. He is going at around 5 runs per over and is averaging just over 18 per wicket.

Here are the Predictions that I had made for the top 5 Bowlers to Watch Out For in the ICC World Cup 2015 before the World Cup had began - http://cricketwise.blogspot.in/2015/02/top-5-bowlers-to-watch-out-for-in-icc.html

Also Read - Top 5 Run Getters are after the first 26 matches of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015

PS - The image used is courtesy www.espncricinfo.com

Top 5 Run Scorers after 26 matches - ICC Cricket World Cup 2015

Let us see who the Top 5 Run Getters are after the first 26 matches of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015!!

A Big surprise at the number 1 position!! Shaiman Anwar from UAE is at the pole position with 270 runs after 4 matches!! He has hit 2 fifties and a splendid century against Zimbabwe! He played fluently against India and Pakistan and has been a revelation and makes the Associate Nations proud and gives the ICC a moment of discomfort as they think about trimming the future World Cups to 10 nations.

Kumar Sangakkara, the elegant left hander from the emerald isle of Sri Lanka, playing in his last ODI tournament has already hit 2 of the fastest hundreds of his glittering career in his last two games; one against Bangladesh and another against England. He has hit 268 runs at a strike rate of over 125!! He looks good for plenty more!

Sri Lanka have two batsmen, Kumar Sangakkara and Lahiru Thirimanne in the top 5 highest run makers after the first 26 matches in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015

Chris Gayle takes the third spot with 258 runs in 4 innings but it is largely due to his 215 that he hit against the Zimbabweans that he finds himself so high. It has otherwise been a very lean World Cup so far for the Jamaican. West Indies will be hoping that he can plunder runs consistently so that they can go deep in to the World Cup.

Hashim Amla had a quiet start to the World Cup as he got out cheaply against both Zimbabwe and India but he gathered steam by hitting a quick fire 50 against West Indies and then came the icing on the cake as he hit a serene 159 against Ireland. He has scored 257 runs so far and will be looking to continue his good form against Pakistan and then in the Quarter Finals.

Lahiru Thirimanne, the young Sri Lankan batsman takes the 5th spot with 256 runs from 4 matches so far. He has hit a century against England and he became the youngest centurion in World Cups for Sri Lanka, He has also hit two 50's, one against New Zealand and the other against Bangladesh. He has been a savior for Sri Lanka at the top of the order and his steady opening partnerships with Dilshan is just the tonic that Sri Lanka were looking for since long!

The most interesting and bizarre thing for me in this list is that the only two unbeaten teams in the World Cup so far, New Zealand and India do not have anybody in the top 5 highest run scorers!!! In fact they do not have anyone in the top 10, the highest from these two teams is Shikhar Dhawan at the 11th position with 224 runs!

Here are the Predictions that I had made for the top 5 Batsmen to Watch Out For in the ICC World Cup 2015 before the World Cup had began - http://cricketwise.blogspot.in/2015/02/top-5-batsmen-to-watch-out-for-in-icc.html

PS - The image used is courtesy www.espncricinfo.com