Cricket World Cup 2015: Best Batting and Bowling Figures After 3rd Quarter-Final
Australia cruised through to the semi-finals of the 2015 World Cup on Friday as they beat Pakistan by six wickets in Adelaide in the third of the last-eight clashes.
They will face India in Sydney in the last four, the defending champions having won all seven of their tournament matches so far.
Set 214 for victory by Pakistan, the Aussies stumbled early in their chase, but they eventually reached the target inside 34 overs, with Steve Smith and Shane Watson both scoring half-centuries.
Here's how the tournament's batting and bowling statistics have changed after Friday's play.
Top 10 Gross Run-Scorers
1 of 7
| Player | Team | Runs |
| Kumar Sangakkara | Sri Lanka | 541 |
| Brendan Taylor | Zimbabwe | 433 |
| AB de Villiers | South Africa | 417 |
| Tillakaratne Dilshan | Sri Lanka | 395 |
| Shikhar Dhawan | India | 367 |
| Mahmudullah | Bangladesh | 365 |
| Misbah-ul-Haq | Pakistan | 350 |
| Sean Williams | Zimbabwe | 339 |
| Hashim Amla | South Africa | 323 |
| Shaiman Anwar | UAE | 311 |
All statistics via ESPN Cricinfo.
Top 10 Batting Averages
2 of 7
| Kumar Sangakkara | Sri Lanka | 108.20 |
| AB de Villiers | South Africa | 83.40 |
| Sarfraz Ahmed | Pakistan | 80.00 |
| Glenn Maxwell | Australia | 75.25 |
| Mahmudullah | Bangladesh | 73.00 |
| Brendan Taylor | Zimbabwe | 72.16 |
| Suresh Raina | India | 69.25 |
| David Miller | South Africa | 68.75 |
| Sean Williams | Zimbabwe | 67.80 |
| Tillakaratne Dilshan | Sri Lanka | 65.83 |
All statistics via ESPN Cricinfo.
Top 10 Strike-Rates
3 of 7
| Player | Team | Runs | SR |
| Dinesh Chandimal | Sri Lanka | 52 | 216.66 |
| Farhaan Behardien | South Africa | 74 | 205.55 |
| Brendon McCullum | New Zealand | 257 | 187.59 |
| Andre Russell | West Indies | 84 | 186.66 |
| Glenn Maxwell | Australia | 301 | 183.53 |
| James Faulkner | Australia | 23 | 176.92 |
| Tawanda Mupariwa | Zimbabwe | 19 | 172.72 |
| Tim Southee | New Zealand | 12 | 171.42 |
| Brad Haddin | Australia | 119 | 163.01 |
| Daniel Vettori | New Zealand | 26 | 152.94 |
All statistics via ESPN Cricinfo.
.jpg?w=256 "Colts Jaguars Football")
Top 10 Wicket-Takers
4 of 7
| Player | Team | Wickets |
| Mitchell Starc | Australia | 18 |
| Mohammed Shami | India | 17 |
| Wahab Riaz | Pakistan | 16 |
| Trent Boult | New Zealand | 15 |
| Imran Tahir | South Africa | 15 |
| Josh Davey | Scotland | 15 |
| Morne Morkel | South Africa | 14 |
| Umesh Yadav | India | 14 |
| Jerome Taylor | West Indies | 14 |
| Daniel Vettori | New Zealand | 13 |
All statistics via ESPN Cricinfo.
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 |
| Mitchell Starc | Australia | 14 | 4 |
| Daniel Vettori | New Zealand | 18 | 4 |
| Kyle Abbott | South Africa | 21 | 4 |
All statistics via ESPN Cricinfo.
Top 10 Economy Rates
6 of 7
| Michael Clarke | Australia | 14 | 1 | 2.80 |
| Daniel Vettori | New Zealand | 178 | 13 | 3.21 |
| James Tredwell | England | 25 | 1 | 3.57 |
| Jeevan Mendis | Sri Lanka | 18 | 2 | 3.60 |
| Mirwais Ashraf | Afghanistan | 63 | 2 | 3.66 |
| Mitchell Starc | Australia | 176 | 18 | 3.74 |
| Bhuvneshwar Kumar | India | 19 | 1 | 3.80 |
| Dwayne Smith | West Indies | 27 | 1 | 3.85 |
| Ravi Bopara | England | 31 | 2 | 3.87 |
| Sohaib Maqsood | Pakistan | 24 | 1 | 4.00 |
All statistics via ESPN Cricinfo.
Standout Performers
7 of 7
Wahab Threatens Aussie Chase
Having been set a lowly 214 for victory, Australia were unsurprisingly heavy favourites to win Friday's quarter-final, and they did eventually win at a canter.
However, they were more than slightly troubled by the bowling of Wahab Riaz, whose magnificent spell almost turned the game on its head.
Wahab finished with relatively unspectacular figures of 2-54 from his nine overs, but he was let down enormously by the fielding.
After a smooth start, Wahab dismissed David Warner and Michael Clarke to leave Australia 59-3.
Pakistan's paceman should then have seen off Shane Watson; the all-rounder was hugely troubled by Wahab and criminally dropped in the deep on four by Rahat Ali having been forced into a pull, per BBC TMS:
"What a moment to drop a catch like that. Watson mistimes to Rahat at fine leg but inexplicably it goes through his hands. 84-3 (16.3) #pinny
— Test Match Special (@bbctms) March 20, 2015"
Returning later in the innings, Wahab was again let down as Glenn Maxwell was poorly dropped early on in his innings at third man by Sohail Khan.
Watson finished with 64 and Maxwell with a 29-ball 44, the pair unbeaten having pushed Australia over the line.
Wahab had done all he could—bagging his 15th and 16th wickets of the tournament—but Pakistan's fielding proved their downfall in the end.
Smith Sets Up Successful Chase
Steve Smith's 65 from 69 balls proved the key innings for Australia as they chased down 214. The right-hander played some wonderfully calm cricket as Pakistan looked to wrestle the momentum.
In early at three after the dismissal of Aaron Finch, Smith continued to play his shots as Warner and Clarke fell and Watson struggled under a barrage from Wahab.
He scored seven fours in a finely controlled and classy innings before he was eventually dismissed lbw by Ehsan Adil. It was a marginal but correct decision, with Smith having moved too far across his stumps, per comedian and cricket writer Andy Zaltzman:
"Steve Smith, hitherto flawless, is lbw to Ehsan. 148-4. Rahat's drop of Watson during an incandescent spell by Wahab still looks decisive.
— Andy Zaltzman (@ZaltzCricket) March 20, 2015"
Australia's batting depth is one of their key strengths and Watson and Maxwell's knocks were of great importance in the victory.
But Smith's was the most important innings, coming as it did at a time when Pakistan looked to be in the ascendancy.
.jpg?w=480 "Colts Jaguars Football")
