World Cup 2011 was considered as the paradise for the batsmen, as it the subcontinent pitches were perceived to be tailormade for batsmen to hit boundaries and score runs. When just the final of the tournament is left, the stats show the 2011 World Cup has given the most balanced performances between batsmen and bowlers. Zaheer Khan is set to become the highest wicket taker of the tournament.
Highest Wicket Taking Bowlers of WC 2011
None of the batsmen have reached the 500 figure yet. Dilshan, Tendulkar, Sangakkara and Tharanga are the only four batsmen to have crossed 400 runs after playing 8 matches each. On the other hand there is a rush among bowlers to touch 20 wickets mark.
World Cup 2011: Certainly Not Batsmen paradise!!
Afridi Leads the Chart
Shahid Afridi leads the chart with 21 wickets in 8 matches. Zaheer Khan, yet to play his 9th match, follows him closely on 19 wickets. Southee with 18 wickets has already signed off in semifinal after 8 matches. Besides the top three, Muralitharan on 15 wickets and Yuvraj on 13 wickets should play one more match in the final. 12 more players have been able to take more than 10 wicket s in the tournament.
Best Bowling Performances of World Cup 2011
10 wickets or more
Overall 17 bowlers have taken more than 10 wickets in the tournament. Is this some kind of record in terms of bowlers spoiling the batsmen party in World Cup!! The record for highest number of wickets in a World Cup tournament remains with Mcgrath, but the increase in number of bowlers taking their wicket tally to double figure is mind boggling. Can one still say this tournament is Batsmen tournament!!
Two bowlers have taken hattrick already. Malinga of Sri Lanka and Kemar Roach of West Indies have been the hattrick-bowlers. Besides them, almost 10 opportunities have been missed where bowlers failed to complete the hattrick. The closest was Dilshan’s probably hattrick, when his Mahela Jayawardene dropped the catch on hattrick ball.
4-wkts or more
33 bowlers have taken 4-wickets or more in an innings. Afridi has achieved the feat 4 times in the tournament. 9 bowlers have taken more than 5 wickets. Afridi has achieved the feat twice. Only two bowlers have taken 6-wickets in the tournament. Both the occurance were accompanied with the hattrick.
Considering the number of times 48 matches showed teams losing all wickets, the tournament can be dubbed as bowler-friendly, if not dominated by the bowlers.
Leave a Reply