After an electrifying season finale, the World Cup 2019 comes to an end. We have a new champion. We have some new stars. England’s thrilling win over New Zealand in the final encounter has made it quite impossible to move on from the 7-week madness.
Who knew that a one-sided World Cup will have so many layers? Here we bring to you a statistical summary of the same. Numbers are not everything but numbers are the parameter that defines sports.
Rohit Sharma, the Indian opener although failed the semi-final against New Zealand, was one of the key payers for India in the tournament. He topped the run charts with 648 runs including five hundred. He along with Shikhar Dhawan have been the mainstays for India’s one day leg for a long time. The absence of Dhawan made Rohit’s work more crucial and he did his job well with an average of 81 in the tournament.
David Warner with 647 runs is the second position holder in the table followed by Shakib Al Hasan. Shakib was the carrier of Bangladesh team with 606 runs from eight matches. Kane Williamson, the Player of the Tournament, ended at fourth with 578 runs along with four English players Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow, Ben Stokes, and Jason Roy, making to the top 10.
Mitchell Starc, who topped the most wickets chart in 2015 World Cup (jointly with Trent Boult) finished as the topper this time as well. Starc’s tally of 27 wickets is the most by any bowler in a single edition of the World Cup. Lockie Ferguson of New Zealand ended the tournament as the second best with 21 wickets. Jofra Archer, one of the most promising debutants of this World Cup, and Mustafizur Rahman with 20 wickets each are the third and fourth position holders in the table.
Jofra bettered in average. Jasprit Bumrah, the Indian star completed his first World Cup with 19 wickets from nine matches to end as the fifth-best bowler of the tournament. Mark Wood and Chris Woakes are the other two from England to be featured. Trent Boult this time finished at lower order. Interestingly, no spinner took more than 11 wickets (Imran Tahir) in this edition of World Cup.
This World Cup has seen some of the promising wicketkeepers having safe hands behind the stumps. Tom Latham effected 21 dismissals whereas Alex Carey came a close second with 20 dismissals. Latham’s 21 dismissals is also a joint record for most dismissals by a keeper in any edition. Adam Gilchrist had also effected 21 dismissals in 2003 World Cup. The rest of the top five positions feature Shai Hope (16), Sarfaraz Ahmed (14), Jos Buttler(14).
Joe Root holds the top positions of the most catches table in the tournament. He took 13 catches while Faf du Plessis pouched 10. Root also recorded the most number of catches by any fielder in any edition of World Cup.
Jonny Bairstow with nine catches comes at third as Sheldon Cortell and Martin Guptill share the fourth place. Although missing direct hit of Ben Stokes will be a nightmare for Guptill for the rest of this life, this comes as a consolation prize.
A handful of incredible partnership always kept the show on for the teams in the World Cup. Jason Roy and Jonny Bairstow had four-century partnerships. Their understanding was a major reason for England’s good showing, especially with the bat. But none of their standings made to the list and that shows what a run-fest we had! KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma made 189 against Sri Lanka for the first wicket with the highest partnership came for the second wicket between David Warner and Usman Khawaja. They made 192 for the second wicket against Bangladesh while Joe Root and Eoin Morgan’s 189 against Afghanistan was the best for the third wicket.
Shakib and Liton Das’ added 189* against West Indies was the best for the fourth wicket. Joe Root and Jos Buttler scored 130 runs for the fifth wicket against Pakistan followed by another hundred plus partnership registered against Pakistan for sixth-wicket stand made by James Neesham and Colin de Grandhomme. The last but the most memorable one made by MS Dhoni and Ravindra Jadeja against New Zealand in the first semi-final. The added a terrific 116 for the seventh wicket to put India close to the finish line.
