Cricket World Cup 2015: Highlighting Best Run-Scorers and Wicket-Takers
Day 10 of the 2015 Cricket World Cup saw England grab their first victory of the tournament against a disappointing Scotland side.
Scotland managed just 184 runs along their chase to 304, a modest target from England after Moeen Ali's 128-run contribution.
It was Moeen who provided the most telling performance of the day, hitting 17 boundaries and also taking two wickets.
Scotland's Josh Davey has been a consistent performer throughout the competition, the best of a poor bunch. He continued his assault up the individual rankings by taking four for 68 and halting the English middle order from setting a prolific score.
Read on to find out how the day's play has affected a variety of stats rankings.
Top 10 Gross Run-Scorers
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| Shikhar Dhawan | India | 210 |
| David Miller | South Africa | 160 |
| Moeen Ali | England | 158 |
| Brendon McCullum | New Zealand | 157 |
| Virat Kohli | India | 153 |
| Lendl Simmons | West Indies | 152 |
| Aaron Finch | Australia | 135 |
| JP Duminy | South Africa | 121 |
| Darren Sammy | West Indies | 119 |
| James Taylor | England | 115 |
All statistics via ESPN Cricinfo.
Top 10 Leading Batting Averages
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| David Miller | South Africa | 160.0 |
| Aaron Finch | Australia | 135.0 |
| JP Duminy | South Africa | 121.0 |
| Shikhar Dhawan | India | 105.0 |
| Paul Stirling | Ireland | 92.0 |
| Ed Joyce | Ireland | 84.0 |
| Sean Williams | Zimebabwe | 84.0 |
| Virat Kohli | India | 76.50 |
| Lendl Simmons | West Indies | 76.0 |
| Mushfiqur Rahim | Bangladesh | 71.0 |
All statistics via ESPN Cricinfo.
Top 10 Strike Rates
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| Andre Russell | West Indies | 69 | 265.38 |
| Brad Haddin | Australia | 31 | 221.42 |
| Daniel Vettori | New Zealand | 8 | 200.00 |
| Brendon McCullum | New Zealand | 157 | 182.55 |
| Thisara Perera | Sri Lanka | 47 | 180.76 |
| Glenn Maxwell | Australia | 66 | 165.00 |
| Mashrafe Mortaza | Bangladesh | 14 | 155.55 |
| MS Dhoni | India | 36 | 150.00 |
| Luke Ronchi | New Zealand | 41 | 141.37 |
| David Miller | South Africa | 160 | 139.31 |
All statistics via ESPN Cricinfo.
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Top 10 Wicket-Takers
4 of 7
| Player | Team | Wickets |
| Tim Southee | New Zealand | 11 |
| Steve Finn | England | 8 |
| Josh Davey | Scotland | 7 |
| Mohammed Shami | India | 6 |
| Daniel Vettori | New Zealand | 6 |
| James Taylor | England | 6 |
| Sohail Khan | Pakistan | 6 |
| Mitchell Marsh | Australia | 5 |
| Corey Anderson | New Zealand | 5 |
| Chris Woakes | England | 5 |
All statistics via ESPN Cricinfo.
Top 10 Bowling Figures
5 of 7
| Tim Southee | New Zealand | 33 | 7 |
| Mitchell Marsh | Australia | 33 | 5 |
| Sohail Khan | Pakistan | 55 | 5 |
| Steven Finn | England | 71 | 5 |
| Mohammed Shami | India | 35 | 4 |
| Josh Davey | Scotland | 68 | 4 |
| Jerome Taylor | West Indies | 15 | 3 |
| Corey Anderson | New Zealand | 18 | 3 |
| Mashrafe Mortaza | Bangladesh | 20 | 3 |
| Daniel Vettori | New Zealand | 24 | 3 |
All statistics via ESPN Cricinfo.
Top 10 Economy Rates
6 of 7
| Mashrafe Mortaza | Bangladesh | 20 | 3 | 2.22 |
| Andy McBrine | Ireland | 26 | 0 | 2.60 |
| Daniel Vettori | New Zealand | 77 | 6 | 3.03 |
| Taskin Ahmed | Bangladesh | 23 | 1 | 3.28 |
| Jeevan Mendis | Sri Lanka | 18 | 2 | 3.60 |
| Mitchell Marsh | Australia | 33 | 5 | 3.66 |
| Mirwais Ashraf | Afghanistan | 63 | 2 | 3.66 |
| Mohammed Shami | India | 65 | 6 | 3.82 |
| Mahmudullah | Bangladesh | 31 | 1 | 3.87 |
| Shapoor Zadran | Afghanistan | 68 | 3 | 4.00 |
All statistics via ESPN Cricinfo.
Day 10 Standout Performers
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Moeen Ali Inspires England to First Win
Moeen Ali's 128-run performance was the difference between two sides who have struggled to impress at the 2015 Cricket World Cup. His confidence from the off was pivotal in England's win over Scotland, particularly as the likes of Gary Ballance and Joe Root failed to follow suit before captain Eoin Morgan stepped in with an extremely useful 46 from 42 balls.
Scotland opened with some shoddy bowling, led by Majid Haq, whose spin lacked speed and direction. Moeen was able to stride onto easy-to-judge balls, powering his way to 12 fours and five sixes. The rest of the English side hit just 12 boundaries between them, with Morgan bringing up the only other sixes in the innings.
Ian Bell appeared to lack confidence on his way to a defensive 54 from 85 balls. He was happy to just survive without making a lasting impact, while letting Moeen do the work in an opening partnership of 172. This kind of self-preservation can perhaps be forgiven—he fell for eight in the previous outing against New Zealand—but any problems for Moeen would have seen England struggle yet again.
As noted by Sky Sports, this nearly came true:
"Moeen lucky not to be caught at cover before hitting a six. 23-0 after four overs: http://t.co/3yn6KJvD2P #CWC15 pic.twitter.com/PQFBwLly5r
— Sky Sports Cricket (@SkyCricket) February 22, 2015"
A greater team effort is needed next time out against Sri Lanka. Moeen's wicket has gone up in value with this performance, meaning he'll be a marked man in Wellington.
"There was a point where we thought we could get 330 or 340 but we've not been playing that well so we'll take 300 at the minute," said Moeen, per BBC Sport.
He'll know he needs the help of others before this is possible.
Josh Davey the Lone Star for Scotland
Scotland may be condemned to the bottom of Pool A, but Josh Davey's performances deserve recognition. He once again offered the side's best haul of wickets, rinsing through England's middle order and seeing off Chris Woakes as the 50 overs concluded.
Davey is the third most prolific wicket-taker of the competition. Granted, he's had an extra match over most, but his display against the English also accounted for the sixth best bowling figures at the tournament so far.
Jonathan Coates of The Herald highlighted the quality of Davey's numbers:
"With 7 wickets Josh Davey is 3 short of John Blain's record for a Scotland bowler at a World Cup. Individual performances the story so far
— Jonathan Coates (@JonCoates) February 23, 2015"
Afghanistan are next up for the Scots, an encounter which many will favour them to win. Like Moeen, Davey stands to be the headline grabber if his team up their performance as a whole.
He has shown real confidence and ambition throughout Scotland's three matches so far, attributes the rest of the team need to work on.
.jpg?w=480 "Colts Jaguars Football")
