Cricket World Cup 2015: Final Tables of Top Run-Scorers, Wicket-Takers and More
That’s it—Cricket World Cup 2015 is over. It’s been an exhilarating six weeks of action down under, with history-making victories, sensational bowling and, of course, exceptional batting displays.
Australia were crowned champions after an emphatic seven-wicket victory over fellow hosts New Zealand in Sunday’s final, and it was exactly what they deserved after putting together a magnificent display throughout.
New Zealand had been equally impressive up until taking to the MCG, where they suffered an uncharacteristic batting collapse of epic proportions.
The Aussies ran riot through the Kiwi order and bowled them all out for just 183. That left Michael Clarke’s men with a simple chase, and, inspired by their skipper, they delivered with all of the 101 balls remaining.
Unsurprisingly, many New Zealand and Australia players make up the Cricket World Cup 2015 top 10s, with Martin Guptill scoring the most runs in the tournament and Trent Boult and Mitchell Starc sharing the wicket-taker honours.
Here, we take a look at all the main stats from the competition and dive into the big movers from the final in Melbourne.
Top 10 Gross Run-Scorers
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| Player | Team | Runs |
| Martin Guptill | New Zealand | 547 |
| Kumar Sangakkara | Sri Lanka | 541 |
| AB de Villiers | South Africa | 482 |
| Brendan Taylor | Zimbabwe | 433 |
| Shikhar Dhawan | India | 412 |
| Steven Smith | Australia | 402 |
| Tillakaratne Dilshan | Sri Lanka | 395 |
| Faf du Plessis | South Africa | 380 |
| Mahmudullah | Bangladesh | 365 |
| Misbah-ul-Haq | Pakistan | 350 |
All statistics via ESPN Cricinfo.
Top 10 Batting Averages
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| Kumar Sangakkara | Sri Lanka | 108.20 |
| AB de Villiers | South Africa | 96.40 |
| Sarfraz Ahmed | Pakistan | 80.00 |
| Mahmudullah | Bangladesh | 73.00 |
| Brendan Taylor | Zimbabwe | 72.16 |
| Martin Guptill | New Zealand | 68.37 |
| Sean Williams | Zimbabwe | 67.80 |
| Steven Smith | Australia | 67.00 |
| Tillakaratne Dilshan | Sri Lanka | 65.83 |
| Glenn Maxwell | Australia | 64.80 |
All statistics via ESPN Cricinfo.
Top 10 Strike Rates
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| Player | Team | Runs | SR |
| Dinesh Chandimal | Sri Lanka | 52 | 216.66 |
| Farhaan Behardien | South Africa | 74 | 205.55 |
| Brendon McCullum | New Zealand | 328 | 188.50 |
| Andre Russell | West Indies | 104 | 185.71 |
| Glenn Maxwell | Australia | 324 | 182.02 |
| James Faulkner | Australia | 44 | 176.00 |
| Tawanda Mupariwa | Zimbabwe | 19 | 172.72 |
| Brad Haddin | Australia | 126 | 157.50 |
| Mitchell Johnson | Australia | 31 | 155.00 |
| AB de Villiers | South Africa | 482 | 144.31 |
All statistics via ESPN Cricinfo.
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Top 10 Wicket-Takers
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| Player | Team | Wickets |
| Mitchell Starc | Australia | 22 |
| Trent Boult | New Zealand | 22 |
| Umesh Yadav | India | 18 |
| Mohammed Shami | India | 17 |
| Jerome Taylor | West Indies | 17 |
| Morne Morkel | South Africa | 17 |
| Wahab Riaz | Pakistan | 16 |
| Daniel Vettori | New Zealand | 15 |
| Imran Tahir | South Africa | 15 |
| Josh Davey | Scotland | 15 |
All statistics via ESPN Cricinfo.
Top 10 Bowling Figures
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| 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
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| Michael Clarke | Australia | 14 | 1 | 2.80 |
| Mitchell Starc | Australia | 224 | 22 | 3.50 |
| James Tredwell | England | 25 | 1 | 3.57 |
| Jeevan Mendis | Sri Lanka | 18 | 2 | 3.60 |
| Mirwais Ashraf | Afghanistan | 63 | 2 | 3.66 |
| 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 |
| Daniel Vettori | New Zealand | 307 | 15 | 4.04 |
All statistics via ESPN Cricinfo.
Cricket World Cup Final 2015 Standout Performers
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Mitchell Starc and Michael Clarke Shine in Aussie Triumph
When New Zealand took to the crease at the MCG for their showdown with neighbours Australia, the world sat back and waited for the hundreds to start appearing on the scorecard.
As it was, the Black Caps failed to get going at all, with player of the tournmaent Mitchell Starc, Mitchell Johnson and James Faulkner ripping through their order.
Starc got the party started in the very first order with yet another unplayable delivery, taking out Brendon McCullum before he could register a single run:
"VIDEO: Heartbreak for NZ fans, Brendon McCullum getting bowled for 0 by Starc http://t.co/kdRsu3d6jY #CWC15Final https://t.co/JxUJXyoKdZ
— Stuff.co.nz Sport (@NZStuffSport) March 29, 2015"
The skipper’s dismissal was just a preview of what was to come, as New Zealand crumbled. Four ducks on the scorecard tells you all you need to know.
Martin Guptill was one of many failing to make an impact, although his 15 runs were enough to take him to the top of the run-scorer charts—nine ahead of Sri Lanka’s Kumar Sangakkara.
Starc’s second wicket of the day came at the expense of Luke Ronchi, as he took his tournament total to 22—one more than New Zealand’s Trent Boult at the time.
However, after Boult saw his side post a feeble total of 183, he got the wicket to draw level with Starc at the top of the charts. Aaron Finch was the unlucky man at Boult’s mercy:
"WICKET! Finch is caught and bowled by Boult! More here: http://t.co/mw7IzAlkqP #CWC15 #fireitup pic.twitter.com/CRBL9pqOlK
— Sky Sports Cricket (@SkyCricket) March 29, 2015"
When Finch’s wicket fell for a duck, it gave the Black Caps a glimmer of hope, but it never materialised into anything more.
Michael Clarke’s show-stealing inning of 74 was his best of the tournament by far, as he signed off his ODI career in style.
Steven Smith, who scored the winning runs, did manage to move into the top 10 run-scorers with his impressive haul of 56, taking him to 402 runs and into sixth place.
The day belonged to Clarke, though, who reflected on a fantastic result after lifting the trophy—via BBC Sport:
"We're really proud, it's a wonderful achievement. It's a great thing just to make a World Cup final, but to be able to win in your own back yard in front of your family and friends is extremely special and I guarantee we'll celebrate hard tonight. The New Zealand team deserve a lot of credit. They’re always a tough team to beat it seems in any sporting event. Australia vs. New Zealand is always an exciting contest and tonight was no different.
"
There’s no better way to retire from ODI cricket than winning the World Cup, and Clarke put together a personal performance worthy of winning any tournament.
While he hasn’t been at his best throughout the World Cup, he’s organised his side perfectly and rightly received his rewards.
The worthy winners have topped off what’s been an incredible competition. The cricket on show at times has been out of this world, and that’s reflected in the record-breaking statistics.
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