AB displaces Gayle at the top

This analysis will be done at suitable points during the World Cup 2015 so that the readers can see the way the Performance tables evolve. As more matches get played the top performance mosaic changes and readers can identify with what happened in the past few days. The qualifying bar for inclusion moves higher as more matches get played.

One of the biggest thrashings administered in any World Cup by a team to another was followed by one of the modern classics: a match which reminded one of the 1996 World Cup semi-final. Then a team of oldies and rejects was shown its place by a ruthless team. The fighting spirit shown by the UAE in the previous matches was missing here. So we had three different matches in this set. But this has been an eventful two days with three of the tables having changes to the top.

Top Batting performances in WC 2015: in 20 matches played so far

SNo	Rating Pts	Year	ODI#	Batsman	For	Vs	Runs	Balls
1	579	2015	3616	AB de Villiers	South Africa	Win	162*	66
2	572	2015	3612	CH Gayle	West Indies	Zim	215	147
3	460	2015	3615	TM Dilshan	Sri Lanka	Bng	161*	146
4	460	2015	3610	S Dhawan	India	Saf	137	146
5	397	2015	3601	DA Miller	South Africa	Zim	138*	92
6	389	2015	3613	Shaiman Anwar	U.A.E.	Ire	106	83
7	386	2015	3600	JWA Taylor	England	Aus	98*	90
8	370	2015	3600	AJ Finch	Australia	Eng	135	128
9	362	2015	3607	BB McCullum	New Zealand	Eng	77	25
10	351	2015	3614	Samiullah Shenwari	Afghanistan	Sco	96	147

This was to be expected. If there was one innings that could have displaced Chris Gayle's brilliancy, it was AB de Villiers' masterpiece. De Villiers' blitzkrieg secured 579 points, just about pipping Gayle. Some of his strokes were not human. These were strokes of a humanoid that had studied every angle and played the perfect stroke to suit the ball. I am going to stick my neck out and say that de Villiers is the most destructive batsmen to have ever played limited over cricket. Yes, I include Viv Richards in my list.

There was no other change and I am glad that Samiullah Shenwari's lovely 96 stays on for another few days. It can be seen that the cut-off for the top-10 placings is 350 rating pts.

de Villiers' innings is in seventh position across all WCs. Gayle's is one position lower.

Top Bowling performances in WC 2015: in 20 matches played so far

SNo	Rating Pts	Year	ODI#	Bowler	For	Vs	Analysis
1	671	2015	3617	MA Starc	Australia	Nzl	9.0 - 0 - 28 - 6
2	606	2015	3607	TG Southee	New Zealand	Eng	9.0 - 0 - 33 - 7
3	484	2015	3617	TA Boult	New Zealand	Aus	10.0 - 3 - 27 - 5
4	452	2015	3600	MR Marsh	Australia	Eng	9.0 - 0 - 33 - 5
5	429	2015	3602	Sohail Khan	Pakistan	Ind	10.0 - 0 - 55 - 5
6	358	2015	3616	Imran Tahir	South Africa	Win	10.0 - 2 - 45 - 5
7	321	2015	3608	JE Taylor	West Indies	Pak	7.0 - 1 - 15 - 3
8	307	2015	3600	ST Finn	England	Aus	10.0 - 0 - 71 - 5

Mitchell Starc's 6 for 28, one of the best World Cup spells ever has taken up the top place, displacing Tim Southee's effort. The reasons are obvious. Defending a total of 151 against a top class batting team, that too away and coming quite close to a win gave Starc this exalted position. Trent Boult's match-winning spell is in third position. R Ashwin's 4 for 25, just about made to the top ten. But it can be seen that this secured only 269 rating pts while the tenth best batting effort secured 351 points. Since the bowling cut-off has now been raised to 300 rating pts, there are only eight entries in the table.

If Australia had won, Starc's spell would be in the third position across all WCs. Now it remains in the fourth position. Southee's effort is in fifth position.

Top Player performances in WC 2015: in 20 matches played so far

SNo	Rating Pts	Year	ODI#	Player	For	Vs	Runs	Balls	Analysis
1	700	2015	3612	CH Gayle	West Indies	Zim	215	147	6.0-0-35-2
2	579	2015	3615	TM Dilshan	Sri Lanka	Bng	161*	146	8.0-0-35-2
3	504	2015	3600	MR Marsh	Australia	Eng	23	20	9.0-0-33-5
4	434	2015	3611	MM Ali	England	Sco	128	107	10.0-0-47-2
5	353	2015	3608	AD Russell	West Indies	Pak	42*	13	8.0-2-33-3
6	317	2015	3614	RD Berrington	Scotland	Afg	25	46	10.0-0-40-4
7	298	2015	3606	SC Williams	Zimbabwe	Uae	76*	65	8.0-0-43-2
8	298	2015	3613	Amjad Javed	U.A.E.	Ire	42	35	10.0-0-60-3
9	281	2015	3599	CJ Anderson	New Zealand	Slk	75	46	3.1-0-18-2
10	258	2015	3614	AC Evans	Scotland	Afg	28	37	10.0-1-30-2

There are no changes to the player performance table. In the past two days there have been outstanding batting and bowling performances rather than all-round performances.

Top Team performances in WC 2015: in 20 matches played so far

SNo	Rating Pts	Year	ODI#	Team	Own score	Vs	Other score
1	721	2015	3616	South Africa	408 for 5 in 50.0	Win	151 for 10 in 33.1
2	713	2015	3607	New Zealand	125 for 2 in 12.2	Eng	123 for 10 in 33.2
3	691	2015	3610	India	307 for 7 in 50.0	Saf	177 for 10 in 40.2
4	665	2015	3618	India	104 for 1 in 18.5	Uae	102 for 10 in 31.3
5	664	2015	3608	West Indies	310 for 6 in 50.0	Pak	160 for 10 in 39.0
6	640	2015	3605	Bangladesh	267 for 10 in 50.0	Afg	162 for 10 in 42.5
7	626	2015	3611	England	303 for 8 in 50.0	Sco	184 for 10 in 42.2
8	626	2015	3615	Sri Lanka	332 for 1 in 50.0	Bng	240 for 10 in 47.0
9	598	2015	3617	New Zealand	152 for 9 in 23.1	Aus	151 for 10 in 32.2
10	598	2015	3612	West Indies	372 for 2 in 50.0	Zim	289 for 10 in 44.3

As expected, South Africa's 257-run win over West Indies moves to the top, with 721 rating pts. As important as the 400-plus was, it was the dismissing of West Indies for 151 which clinched this position. New Zealand's eight-wicket win over England has been moved to the second position. India's two resounding wins occupy the next two positions.

A brief introduction into the methodology of Performance Analysis.

The Batting Performance Ratings analysis takes into account the Runs scored, Balls faced, Next highest score (if this is the highest score), % of Team score, Innings status at entry, Bowling quality, Pitch information, Team strengths, Target score in front, Match location, Result and Match importance. These parameters are given appropriate weights. The calculations are done in such a way that Rating points of 1000 would be allotted to a mind-blowing and match-winning score of 200 in 150 balls in a WC final.

The Bowling Performance Ratings analysis takes into account the Wickets captured, Quality of batsmen dismissed, Scores at which batsmen were dismissed, Bowling accuracy, Batting quality, Pitch information, Team strengths, Target being defended, Match location, Result and Match importance. The calculations are done in such a way that Rating points of 1000 would be allotted to a magnificent and match-winning analysis of 10-2-15-6 in a WC final.

The Player Performance Ratings analysis takes into account the Batting Rating points, Bowling Rating points and the Fielding Rating points, which is a combination of catches and stumpings. There are minimum criteria for batting and bowling stints to ensure that these are genuinely all-round performances.

The Team Performance Ratings analysis takes into account the Result, Margin of win, Resources utilized, Team strengths, Match location and Match importance. The calculations are done in such a way that Rating points of 1000 would be allotted to an overwhelming win by 150 runs or 8 wickets in a WC final.