Group Stage Leaders: Statistical round-up of ICC World Cup 2015

As the group stages of the ongoing ICC World Cup have come to an end, with India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and West Indies qualifying from their respective groups for the quarterfinals, which begin on March 18 with Sri Lanka taking on South Africa at Sydney in the first of the four matches, here is a look at the statistical highlights of the tournament so far.

#1 Most runs

Sri Lankan wicketkeeper-batsman Kumar Sangakkara, who scored a record four centuries in a row against Bangladesh, England, Australia and Scotland, leads the list of highest run-getters at the end of group stages.

Sangakkara didn’t get off to a great start, scoring only 39 and 7 in his first two matches, against New Zealand and Afghanistan respectively, but then the 37-year-old turned it on in a grand fashion with 3 of his four 100s coming in winning causes.

Player	Country	Matches	Runs
K Sangakkara	Sri Lanka	6	496
B Taylor	Zimbabwe	6	433
AB de Villiers	South Africa	6	417
T Dilshan	Sri Lanka	6	395
Mahmudullah	Bangladesh	5	344

#2 Most sixes and fours

With 20 sixes in 6 matches, South African captain AB de Villiers leads the list of top six-hitters in the World Cup. Following him at the second spot is West Indian big hitter Chris Gayle; however, 16 of his 18 sixes came in a single match – against Zimbabwe at Canberra where he scored a record-breaking 215 off 147 balls.

Player	Country	Matches	Sixes
AB de Villiers	South Africa	6	20
C Gayle	West Indies	5	18
B McCullum	New Zealand	6	12
B Taylor	Zimbabwe	6	12
G Maxwell	Australia	5	11
D Miller	South Africa	6	11

With 54 hits to the fence, Kumar Sangakkara tops the list of leading four-hitters.

Player	Country	Matches	Fours
K Sangakkara	Sri Lanka	6	54
T Dilshan	Sri Lanka	6	46
B Taylor	Zimbabwe	6	43
S Dhawan	India	6	39
AB de Villiers	South Africa	6	35
B McCullum	New Zealand	6	35

#3 Most 100s and most ducks

With 4 centuries, Kumar Sangakkara leads the list of players with most number of hundreds in the group stages of the World Cup. It is also the world record for the most number of centuries scored in a World Cup.

The next best in this edition is only 2, and there are four players who have managed to do that so far.

Player	Country	Matches	100s
K Sangakkara	Sri Lanka	6	4
Mahmudullah	Bangladesh	5	2
S Dhawan	India	6	2
T Dilshan	Sri Lanka	6	2
B Taylor	Zimbabwe	6	2

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) all-rounder Krishna Chandran leads the list of players with the most number of ducks in the World Cup; he has been dismissed for nought thrice in 5 innings. The 30-year-old has scored only 38 runs in his 5 matches with a highest score of 34.

There are 8 players at the second spot with 2 ducks to their name – the most notable name among them is England captain Eoin Morgan who, just like his team, had a forgettable campaign.

The remaining seven players are Mitchell Starc, Ian Wardlaw, Afsar Zazai, Kyle Coetzer, Hamid Hassan, Calum Macleod and Preston Mommsen, four of whom are Scotland players.

#4 Highest individual scores

West Indian opener Chris Gayles 215 against Zimbabwe, the only double century in the history of World Cup cricket, is the highest score in the World Cup. Gayle, however, failed to show up in the sides remaining matches managing only a total of 64 runs in 4 innings. He would be looking to set the record straight when the Caribbeans meet New Zealand in the 4th quarter-final, at Wellingtonon March 21.

Player	Country	Opposition	Highest score
C Gayle	West Indies	Zimbabwe	215
D Warner	Australia	Afghanistan	178
AB de Villiers	South Africa	West Indies	162*
T Dilshan	Sri Lanka	Bangladesh	161*
H Amla	South Africa	Ireland	159

#5 Most wickets

Australia pacer Mitchell Starc has justified his tag as the world’s best limited overs cricket bowler by ending the group stages of the World Cup as the leading wicket-taker. Equally adept with the new ball and at the death, Starc has been close to unplayable in the tournament bowling at speeds of 145 kmph+. Being a left-armer, his natural angle has also posed problems to batsmen.

Player	Country	Matches	Wickets
M Starc	Australia	5	16
M Shami	India	5	15
T Boult	New Zealand	6	15
J Davey	Scotland	6	15
J Taylor	West Indies	6	14
W Riaz	Pakistan	6	14

#6 Best economy rate

Veteran New Zealand spinner Daniel Vettori tops the list of most economical bowlers of the World Cup (only bowlers who have bowled a minimum of 35 overs in the tournament are taken into consideration).

Vettori was back into the Kiwi set-up only days ahead of the tournament, recovering from a career-threatening back injury, but he has showed no signs of having been out of the international set-up for so long bowling as well as he has ever did.

Player	Country	Matches	Overs	Economy Rate
D Vettori	New Zealand	6	55.2	3.21
M Starc	Australia	5	37	3.67
R Ali	Pakistan	4	38	4.07
M Morkel	South Africa	6	52.1	4.08
T Boult	New Zealand	6	56	4.17

#7 Most runs conceded in an innings

West Indies captain Jason Holder, who was at the receiving end of AB de Villiers’ incredible assault on his team in the match against South Africa, has conceded the most number of runs in an innings in the World Cup. His figures read: 10-2-104-1.

In fact, Holder was having a really good having only conceded only 17 runs in his first 6 overs till things went out of control at the death. De Villiers took a special liking to him scoring 76 runs off the 21 balls bowled to him by the tall, right-arm seamer.

Player	Country	Spell	Opposition
J Holder	West Indies	10-2-104-1	South Africa
D Zadran	Afghanistan	10-1-101-2	Australia
K O’Brien	Ireland	7-0-95-1	South Africa
K O’Brien	Ireland	10-0-90-2	Zimbabwe
S Zadran	Afghanistan	10-0-89-2	Australia

#8 Highes team total

After being put into bat, Australia, powered by a mammoth century from David Warner and fifties from Steven Smith and Glenn Maxwell, posted 417 runs on the board in their Pool A World Cup match against Afghanistan at Perth. It is the highest score by a team ever in a World Cup match, beating India’s 413 against Bermuda at the Queen’s Park Oval, Port of Spain, in 2007.

Team	Score	Opposition	Venue
Australia	417/6	Afghanistan	Perth
South Africa	411/4	Ireland	Canberra
South Africa	408/5	West Indies	Sydney
Australia	376/9	Sri Lanka	Sydney
West Indies	372/2	Zimbabwe	Canberra

#9 Largest margin of victory

Australia’s 275-run victory against Afghanistan at Perth in a Pool A World Cup match is the largest margin of victory in the World Cup in terms of runs. Batting first, Australia scored 417. In return, the Afghanistan batsmen couldn’t handle the pace and bounce generated by Aussies quicks, and eventually they were bowled out for 142 in 37.3 overs.

Team	Opposition	Margin of victory	Venue
Australia	Afghanistan	275	Perth
South Africa	West Indies	257	Sydney
South Africa	Ireland	201	Canberra
West Indies	Pakistan	150	Christchurch
Sri Lanka	Scotland	148	Canberra

In terms of number of balls remaining, New Zealand’s rout of England at Wellington occupies the first spot. After bowling out England for 123 runs, Brendon McCullum and Co. chased the target in 12.2 overs.

Team	Opposition	Margin of victory	Venue
New Zealand	England	226	Wellington
Australia	Scotland	208	Hobart
India	UAE	187	Perth
New Zealand	Australia	161	Auckland
New Zealand	Scotland	151	Dunedin

#10 Highest partnerships

Chris Gayle and Marlon Samuels’ 372-run partnership that helped West Indies set a target of 373 against Zimbabwe at Canberra is the highest partnership in the World Cup so far. Gayle scored 215 off 147 before being dismissed on the final ball of the innings, while Samuels remained unbeaten on 133 off 156 balls. Zimbabwe could only manage 289 runs in return.

It is also the highest partnership for any wicket in history of ODIs, beating the 331-run partnership between Indian cricketing legends Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid against New Zealand at Hyderabad in 1999.

Duo	Team	Partnership runs	Opposition	Venue
C Gayle, M Samuels	West Indies	372	Zimbabwe	Canberra
D Warner, S Smith	Australia	260	Afghanistan	Perth
D Miller, JP Duminy	South Africa	256*	Zimbabwe	Hamilton
H Amla, F Du Plessis	South Africa	247	Ireland	Canberra
L Thirimanne, K Sangakkara	Sri Lanka	212*	England	Wellington