Cricket World Cup 2015: Top Run-Scorers, Wicket-Takers and More Updated Stats
Tournament hosts New Zealand and Australia returned to action on Day 23 of Cricket World Cup 2015, and it proved to be a fruitful day for both sides as they chalked up routine victories against Afghanistan and Sri Lanka, respectively.
The Black Caps won their opening four matches without really needing to break a sweat, and they continued in that vein against the tournament minnows.
After bowling Afghanistan out for 186, New Zealand chased the total down with all of 83 balls remaining for their fifth win out of five.
Daniel Vettori stole the show with an emphatic 4/18 haul with the ball, moving him into the top-five wicket-takers for the tournament.
There, he joins teammates Tim Southee and Trent Boult, the latter of whom added three dismissals to his tournament totals against the Afghans.
Australia then followed in their neighbours’ footsteps with a 64-run victory against Sri Lanka at the SGC, with batting brilliance taking centre stage throughout.
Glenn Maxwell slogged his way to 102 from just 53 balls in one of the tournament’s best innings before Kumar Sangakkara wrote his name into the history books.
The Sri Lankan chalked up his third consecutive century of the competition with a 104 and, in doing so, made his 14,000th ODI run.
Sangakkara’s fantastic knock also put him on top of the run-scorers table with 372 in this World Cup, 54 runs clear of South Africa’s AB de Villiers.
Read on for full competition statistics, as well as an in-depth look at the movers and shakers on Day 23.
Top 10 Gross Run-Scorers
1 of 7
| Player | Team | Runs |
| Kumar Sangakkara | Sri Lanka | 372 |
| AB de Villiers | South Africa | 318 |
| Hashim Amla | South Africa | 295 |
| Brendan Taylor | Zimbabwe | 295 |
| Tillakaratne Dilshan | Sri Lanka | 291 |
| Sean Williams | Zimbabwe | 289 |
| Chris Gayle | West Indies | 279 |
| Faf du Plessis | South Africa | 277 |
| Misbah-ul-Haq | Pakistan | 277 |
| Shaiman Anwar | UAE | 270 |
Top 10 Batting Averages
2 of 7
| Kumar Sangakkara | Sri Lanka | 124.0 |
| Shakib Al Hasan | Bangladesh | 80.50 |
| AB de Villiers | South Africa | 79.50 |
| David Miller | South Africa | 75.33 |
| Virat Kohli | India | 73.00 |
| Tillakaratne Dilshan | Sri Lanka | 72.75 |
| Sean Williams | Zimbabwe | 72.25 |
| Shaiman Anwar | UAE | 67.50 |
| JP Duminy | South Africa | 66.50 |
| Glenn Maxwell | Australia | 64.25 |
Top 10 Strike Rates
3 of 7
| Player | Team | Runs | SR |
| Dinesh Chandimal | Sri Lanka | 52 | 216.66 |
| Andre Russell | West Indies | 77 | 208.10 |
| Tawanda Mupariwa | Zimbabwe | 18 | 200.00 |
| Farhaan Behardien | South Africa | 10 | 200.00 |
| Brendon McCullum | New Zealand | 249 | 193.02 |
| Glenn Maxwell | Australia | 257 | 190.37 |
| Thisara Perera | Sri Lanka | 55 | 189.65 |
| Rilee Rossouw | South Africa | 128 | 164.10 |
| Brad Haddin | Australia | 119 | 163.01 |
| AB de Villiers | South Africa | 318 | 153.62 |
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Top 10 Wicket-Takers
4 of 7
| Player | Team | Wickets |
| Trent Boult | New Zealand | 13 |
| Tim Southee | New Zealand | 13 |
| Mitchell Starc | Australia | 12 |
| Daniel Vettori | New Zealand | 12 |
| Josh Davey | Scotland | 11 |
| Jerome Taylor | West Indies | 11 |
| Morne Morkel | South Africa | 11 |
| Wahab Riaz | Pakistan | 11 |
| Imran Tahir | South Africa | 10 |
| Tendai Chatara | Zimbabwe | 10 |
| Shapoor Zadran | Afghanistan | 10 |
Top 10 Bowling Figures
5 of 7
| Tim Southee | New Zealand | 33 | 7 |
| Mitchell Starc | Australia | 28 | 6 |
| Trent Boult | New Zealand | 27 | 5 |
| Mitchell Marsh | Australia | 33 | 5 |
| Imran Tahir | South Africa | 45 | 5 |
| Sohail Khan | Pakistan | 55 | 5 |
| Steven Finn | England | 71 | 5 |
| Daniel Vettori | New Zealand | 18 | 4 |
| Kyle Abbott | South Africa | 21 | 4 |
| Mitchell Johnson | Australia | 22 | 4 |
Top 10 Economy Rates
6 of 7
| Michael Clarke | Australia | 14 | 1 | 2.80 |
| Daniel Vettori | New Zealand | 136 | 12 | 3.00 |
| Jeevan Mendis | Sri Lanka | 18 | 2 | 3.60 |
| Mirwais Ashraf | Afghanistan | 63 | 2 | 3.66 |
| Bhuvneshwar Kumar | India | 19 | 1 | 3.80 |
| Rahat Ali | Pakistan | 107 | 5 | 3.82 |
| Trent Boult | New Zealand | 178 | 13 | 3.86 |
| Mohit Sharma | India | 117 | 6 | 3.90 |
| Ravichandran Ashwin | India | 145 | 9 | 3.91 |
| Mohammed Shami | India | 100 | 9 | 4.00 |
Day 23 Standout Performers
7 of 7
Daniel Vetorri shines for New Zealand while Kumar Sangakkara makes history
New Zealand vs. Afghanistan was the ultimate David vs. Goliath in ODI circles, but David didn’t slip up this time around.
The Black Caps have been emphatic with the ball all World Cup, and they didn’t change their tune against the Afghans, who were bowled out for 186.
Spinner Daniel Vettori was once again in sublime form, taking four impressive wickets, including two in succession to set up a hat-trick chance.
Those dismissals took his tournament total up to 12, sitting one behind teammates Tim Southee and Trent Boult at the top of the World Cup wicket-taker standings—much to the approval of the Black Caps’ official Twitter feed:
"How good is this list? 3 @BLACKCAPS @trent_boult, Tim Southee and Daniel Vettori top the leading wicket takers @cricketworldcup #nzvafg ^PT
— BLACKCAPS (@BLACKCAPS) March 8, 2015"
Vettori’s impressive display also saw his 300th ODI wicket come around, as Test Match Special revealed:
"Amazing figures for Daniel Vettori today. 10 overs 4 maidens 4 for 18 including his 300th ODI wicket #bbccricket pic.twitter.com/tgNjhpcxHb
— Test Match Special (@bbctms) March 8, 2015"
It was nothing more than we expected against a weak Afghanistan line-up, though, as the spinner has been irresistible all tournament.
ESPN’s Freddie Wilde disclosed the extent of his brilliance:
"Daniel Vettori has bowled 272 balls in #CWC15, he’s taken 12 wickets, bowled 171 dot balls & conceded just 7 boundaries. #NZvAfg #NZ #Afg
— Freddie Wilde (@fwildecricket) March 8, 2015"
Boult also had a good day with a 3/34 haul, and although Southee failed to take a wicket, his form is impressive heading into the final Pool A match and beyond.
The Black Caps are full of confidence and rightly so—their cricket has been outstanding so far in the World Cup. It’s all just a case of whether they can keep up such superb form.
The same applies to Australia, whose loss to their neighbours has been their only blip in an otherwise fruitful campaign.
They returned to winning ways against Sri Lanka on Sunday, with Glenn Maxwell leading the Aussie assault with the bat.
It was a great display for the entire order to reach 376/9 as the 50th over came and went, but Maxwell was quite simply unplayable.
He reached his century in just 51 balls, with this cheeky shot summing up the confidence that he was playing with—per Sky Sports Cricket:
"WATCH: The moment Maxwell brought up his century #fireitup #CWC15 http://t.co/dVY7DM36J1
— Sky Sports Cricket (@SkyCricket) March 8, 2015"
While Maxwell was behind the Australia victory, the day belonged to Sri Lanka’s Kumar Sangakkara.
The 37-year-old reached 14,000 ODI runs with another emphatic century, joining Sachin Tendulkar in the history books, as Sky Sports Cricket revealed:
"WATCH: @KumarSanga2 joins @sachin_rt in passing 14,000 ODI runs. See it on Sky Sports World Cup #fireitup #cwc15 http://t.co/LfehXQX0X2
— Sky Sports Cricket (@SkyCricket) March 8, 2015"
His batting display was vintage Sangakkara, showing patience and urgency in equal measures at the right times.
He’s been doing as much throughout the tournament, and his innings against Australia made him the first player to chalk up three centuries in successive World Cup matches, via Wilde:
"Record Alert: Kumar Sangakkara is the first batsman ever to score hundreds in three consecutive World Cup matches. #CWC15 #AusvSL #Aus #SL
— Freddie Wilde (@fwildecricket) March 8, 2015"
Not to mention, Sangakkara now sits atop of the run-scorers charts with 372 from five games and is showing no signs of easing off the gas.
The Sri Lankans still have work to do to confirm their place in the last eight of the competition, but with their star man firing on all cylinders, they have every chance of progressing.
As for New Zealand and Australia, it’s a case of who can stop them and how.
Their form is incredible, displaying batting brilliance and expert bowling tactics to sweep aside all before them, and if they can maintain such excellence, we could be looking at an all-hosts final.
All statistics via ESPN Cricinfo unless otherwise noted.
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