Which is the second-best World Cup team?

Australia have won four World Cups, the most. They have won 55 matches in World Cups, the most. Their batsmen have scored 16,165 runs, the most. Their bowlers have taken 556 wickets, the most. They have had a 34-match unbeaten streak extending across four World Cups, by far the longest. It is inarguable that Australia have been the best team in World Cup history.

However, which team has been second-best? England have been in three finals, without ever winning the title. India and West Indies have also been in three finals, winning two each. Pakistan have reached the semi-finals on six occasions, making the final on two, and winning once. New Zealand have got past the group stage eight times, more often than even Australia.

Only the top-eight cricketing nations have been considered for the purpose of this analysis.

Win-loss ratios
Two teams have won twice as many matches as they have lost. Australia have 55 wins with 19 losses, while South Africa have 30 wins and 15 losses. The only team that loses more matches than they win is Sri Lanka, who have 31 wins and 32 losses. However, Sri Lanka received Test status much after the other seven teams, and have only been a force to reckon with during five of the ten World Cups. During the last five editions Sri Lanka have in fact won twice as many matches as they have lost, 27 wins and 12 losses.

At the other end of the spectrum are West Indies, who had the best win-loss ratio (2.4) in the first five World Cups (22 wins, nine losses), and the worst ratio (1.0) in the next five editions (16 wins, 16 losses).

New Zealand have won 40 World Cup games, next only to Australia, who have 55 wins. However, they have also lost 29 games, the second most. As a consequence, their win-loss ratio (1.37) is the second-worst, next only to Sri Lanka.

Performance in knockout games
Australia have won ten of the 14 knockout matches they have played, including quarter-finals, semi-finals and finals. They have three losses and a tie. India have won seven out of ten, the next most. England and New Zealand have the most losses in knockout matches, seven each.

The only team that has never won a single knockout game is South Africa, who have no wins from three semi-finals and two quarter-finals. They suffered four losses in those five games, managing to tie the other, against Australia in 1999. However, South Africa, as the table below shows, have the best record in the group stages, even better than Australia. South Africa have 24 wins and eight losses, with a win-loss ratio of 3.0, significantly better than Australia's ratio of 2.06, based on 33 wins and 16 losses. Another team that has a better win-loss ratio than Australia in the group stages is England, who have 33 wins and 15 loses, a ratio of 2.20.

Performance of the top eight teams against each other
Sometimes, the overall performance of teams in a global event such as the World Cup appear statistically inflated because a significant percentage of matches are played against relatively weaker opposition. Australia's win-loss ratio of 2.9 drops to 1.9 when the assessment is restricted to their performance against the top-eight teams (34 wins, 18 losses). However, this too is far higher than the ratios for any other team. South Africa, who have only been playing in World Cups since 1992, are next best with a ratio of 1.3 (17 wins, 13 losses).

The three teams that lose more matches than they win against the top-eight nations are India, New Zealand and Sri Lanka. However, in the last five World Cups, both India and Sri Lanka have won more than they have lost against such opposition, while New Zealand still lose more.

Overall performance
The above segments set out the order of merit of these top-eight teams with respect to their win-loss ratios, performances in knockout/group games and their performances when playing each other. However, in the broader scheme of things, the success of a team's World Cup campaign is assessed based on how far they progress in a certain edition of the tournament. Below is a table setting out the performance of the top-eight teams in the various World Cups. Points have been allotted based on where these teams have finished in each edition of the tournament. The allocation is as follows:

Winner:                 10 points
Runner-up:            6 points
Semi-finalist:        4 points
Super6:                    3 points
Quarter-finalist:  2 points
Super8:                    2 points

The proportionate allotment of points in the table below is comparable to other merit-based systems in which ranking points are allotted in global sports such as tennis and squash.

Overall performance of the top-eight teams in World Cups

Team/Edition	1975	1979	1983	1987	1992	1996	1999	2003	2007	2011	Points
Australia	Runner	Group	Group	Winner	Group	Runner	Winner	Winner	Winner	Quarter	54
India	Group	Group	Winner	Semi	Group	Semi	Super6	Runner	Group	Winner	37
Pakistan	Group	Semi	Semi	Semi	Winner	Quarter	Runner	Group	Group	Semi	34
West Indies	Winner	Winner	Runner	Group	Group	Semi	Group	Group	Super8	Quarter	34
England	Semi	Runner	Semi	Runner	Runner	Quarter	Group	Group	Super8	Quarter	32
New Zealand	Semi	Semi	Group	Group	Semi	Quarter	Semi	Super6	Semi	Semi	29
South Africa*	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	Semi	Quarter	Semi	Group	Semi	Quarter	27
Sri Lanka	Group	Group	Group	Group	Group	Winner	Group	Semi	Runner	Runner	26

*South Africa's points have been normalised to account for the fact that they could not participate in the first four editions of the World Cup

South Africa have been perennial underperformers at World Cups and the above table only reinforces that fact. South Africa are the best-performing team in the group stages. They have the second-best overall win-loss ratio after Australia. They have the second-best win-loss ratio against the top-eight teams. Yet, they have not won a single knockout game in five attempts, and therefore find themselves lingering at the bottom of the above table. Similar is the case with New Zealand, who are the only team to have gone past the group stage in each of the last six World Cups but have lost each of their six semi-finals, thus finding themselves just a rung above South Africa.

Sri Lanka's position on the table - last - does them no justice because they have been exceptional over the last five editions, before which they were merely making up the numbers. Sri Lanka have earned all of their 26 points since the 1996 World Cup, the second most in this period after Australia (36).

Overall, India have the most points after Australia and it could be argued that they are therefore the second-best World Cup team. India seem to be the antithesis of South Africa. India's overall numbers are not too impressive, whether in the context of win-loss ratios, performances in the group stage or against top-eight opposition. However, they do win 70% of their knockout matches. They have only lost three such games, the same number as Australia, whose win percentage in knockouts (71%) is not dissimilar to India's.