Who bowled the most dot balls in the 2019 World Cup?

Who bowled the most dot balls in the 2019 World Cup? And who was the most economical bowler? asked Kenneth Harrison from England
The man with the most dot balls finished on the winning side… just. In the whole tournament, Jofra Archer sent down 371 deliveries from which no runs were scored, 20 more than Trent Boult of New Zealand; third, with 323 dot balls, was Australia's Pat Cummins.

The prize for the World Cup's most economical bowler depends on what qualification you impose. Ignoring Angelo Mathews' two overs which cost six runs, the West Indian Kemar Roach went for just 3.36 per over, but he sent down only 33 overs in all, in four matches. If you insist on 50 overs bowled, then New Zealand's Colin de Grandhomme leads the way: he conceded 4.15 runs per over from 51, helped by his parsimonious spell of 10-2-25-1 in that fabulous Lord's final. And if you decide the bowler concerned must have taken at least ten wickets, then Jasprit Bumrah, who claimed 18 for India, went for only 4.41 per over.

On a related subject, the tournament's official OPTA stats revealed that of the 59 bowlers who sent down 30 or more overs in the World Cup, only one was never hit for six - Ben Stokes.

Mohammed Shami took four wickets in three successive matches at this World Cup. Has anyone ever done that before? asked Dev Chatterjee from the United States
Mohammed Shami took 4 for 40, including a hat-trick, against Afghanistan in Southampton, 4 for 16 against West Indies at Old Trafford, and 5 for 69 against England at Edgbaston.

Shami was the ninth bowler to take four or more in three successive ODI innings, as this list shows: Waqar Younis managed it three times. The only other man to do it in the same World Cup was Pakistan's Shahid Afridi, with 5 for 16 against Kenya, 4 for 34 against Sri Lanka and 5 for 23 against Canada in 2015.

How often have both openers scored hundreds in a World Cup innings, as India's did against Sri Lanka? asked Anandh Ramesh from India
That instance by India's openers against Sri Lanka at Headingley - KL Rahul made 111 and Rohit Sharma 103 - was only the third time both openers had made centuries in the same World Cup innings. The other two were both in 2011, and both by Sri Lanka: Upul Tharanga made 144 and Tillakaratne Dilshan 133 against Zimbabwe in Pallekele, then a fortnight later Tharanga hit 102 and Dilshan 108 - both not out - as England were thrashed by ten wickets in Colombo. In all one-day internationals, this has now happened 40 times.

Is it true that Aaron Finch was the only Australian to bag a golden duck in the World Cup? asked Murray Emerson from Australia
I think Aaron Finch's first-baller in the semi-final against England at Edgbaston last week actually made him the first Australian opener to suffer a golden duck in the World Cup. As this list shows, Finch seems to have been the 18th Aussie to fall first ball in any World Cup innings, the first being Ashley Mallett in the group game against West Indies at The Oval in the inaugural competition in 1975. The most recent ones before Finch were Mitchell Starc and Jason Behrendorff, the second and third victims in Trent Boult's hat-trick for New Zealand at Lord's last month.

VVS Laxman made a duck in his first and last one-day international. How many others have suffered this fate? asked Vamsi Krishna from India
VVS Laxman started his ODI career with a duck, against Zimbabwe in Cuttack in April 1998, and rounded it off with another blob, against South Africa in Centurion in December 2006. In between he scored 2338 runs in 84 further matches.

Laxman is one of 24 men who failed to score in the first and last ODIs. The list includes two Indian World Cup winners, Roger Binny and Kris Srikkanth, a World Cup runner-up in the West Indian Jeff Dujon, and someone who averaged 53 in his other matches for England, Jonathan Trott.

The list also includes a few current players who might escape from it if they play again. One who must be itching for another chance is Fazle Mahmud of Bangladesh, who played two ODIs against Zimbabwe last October, and was out for a duck in each of them.