A World Cup dominated by left-arm seamers and No. 3 batsmen
Batting first was no longer a curse in World Cup 2019, while spinners generally didn't have much to celebrate. These and other stats highlights from the tournament
Mitchell Starc took 27 wickets in the tournament, and it was a golden year for left-arm fast bowlers at large. Kane Williamson and other No. 3s averaged over 52 collectively, the highest in any World Cup • Getty Images
Given how ODI run rates had soared in England in the four years leading up to this World Cup 2019 - it was 6.07 in the period between the last two World Cups - people generally assumed that the scoring rate in this edition would leave behind previous ones by some distance. Well, it didn't pan out that way, thanks to the pitches and the conditions.
Chasing was generally the preferred option for teams in England in the four years leading up to this tournament: the win-loss ratio for teams batting first was 20-32 (0.625). In the World Cup, it flipped completely: teams batting first won 28 and lost 15, a ratio of 1.866, which is a three-fold improvement for the team batting first. It is also a significant departure from ODI trends over the last four years since World Cup 2015.
Spinners had a forgettable tournament. They took only 136 wickets in all, at an average of 51.05 and an economy rate of 5.41. Only once in the past have they conceded more runs per wicket - in 1979, when they averaged 65.25. Their economy rate in 2019 was the poorest in all World Cups. The top 17 wicket-takers in this World Cup were all seamers; Yuzvendra Chahal, with 12 wickets, was the best among the spinners. The seamers finished with 500 wickets at 30.16.
The top three batsmen (Nos. 1-3) in the batting line-ups of all teams scored 51% of the total runs off the bat in the entire tournament, compared to 43% in 2015, 48% in 2011 and 44.5% in 2007. Among the 11 batsmen who scored 400-plus runs in the tournament, only one - Ben Stokes - batted outside the top three. The top three batsmen averaged 43.24 in 2019, five more than they have in any other World Cup.
Mitchell Starc's 27 wickets broke the record for most wickets in a single World Cup, while Mustafizur Rahman, Trent Boult, Mohammad Amir and Shaheen Afridi were among the top ten wicket-takers, making this an outstanding tournament for left-arm fast bowlers. They took 136 wickets, their best haul ever in a World Cup, and two more than their tally in 2015.
Four captains who scored 300-plus runs at 50-plus averages in this World Cup; in previous editions, there have never been more than two captains who did so.