No changes at the top, Stirling and Mortaza lead the rest

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.

The second round of matches proved quite different to the first-four "Score big and win big" type of matches. A fancied team scored 300 but this was chased down by a team from the lower echelons quite comfortably. Then a sub-150 total proved tricky for a top team. A comfortable win followed next and then a near-300 total was chased, with some bumps on the way. All in all, we were back in typical World Cup territory.

Top Batting performances in WC 2015: in 8 matches played so far

SNo	Rating Pts	Year	ODI#	Batsman	For	Vs	Runs	Balls
1	397	2015	3601	DA Miller	South Africa	Zim	138*	92
2	386	2015	3600	JWA Taylor	England	Aus	98*	90
3	370	2015	3600	AJ Finch	Australia	Eng	135	128
4	314	2015	3601	JP Duminy	South Africa	Zim	115*	100
5	290	2015	3602	V Kohli	India	Pak	107	126
6	242	2015	3603	PR Stirling	Ireland	Win	92	84
7	238	2015	3603	LMP Simmons	West Indies	Ire	102	84
8	238	2015	3603	NJ O'Brien	Ireland	Win	79*	60
9	227	2015	3603	EC Joyce	Ireland	Win	84	67
10	223	2015	3602	Misbah-ul-Haq	Pakistan	Ind	76	84

The top five batting performances stayed at the top. Then come Paul Stirling's innings which led the trio of match-winning innings for Ireland, Lendl Simmons' losing hundred for West Indies, Niall O'Brien's lovely finishing act and Ed Joyce's support act. The other winning fifty, by Sean Williams, just missed the cut. The lack of quality in UAE bowling was a major reason. As we cover more matches, the fifties would disappear and it would take an exceptional score below 100 to break into the top ten.

Top Bowling performances in WC 2015: in 8 matches played so far

SNo	Rating Pts	Year	ODI#	Bowler	For	Vs	Analysis
1	458	2015	3600	MR Marsh	Australia	Eng	9.0 - 0 - 33 - 5
2	427	2015	3602	Sohail Khan	Pakistan	Ind	10.0 - 0 - 55 - 5
3	311	2015	3600	ST Finn	England	Aus	10.0 - 0 - 71 - 5
4	287	2015	3602	Mohammed Shami	India	Pak	9.0 - 1 - 35 - 4
5	220	2015	3605	Mashrafe Mortaza	Bangladesh	Afg	9.0 - 2 - 20 - 3
6	210	2015	3603	GH Dockrell	Ireland	Win	10.0 - 0 - 50 - 3
7	202	2015	3604	JH Davey	Scotland	Nzl	7.0 - 0 - 40 - 3

Same thing happens in bowling also. Mashrafe Mortaza, George Dockrell and Josh Davey come in at the later part of the table. It is understandable as no one even captured four wickets in this quartet of matches.

Top Player performances in WC 2015: in 8 matches played so far

SNo	Rating Pts	Year	ODI#	Player	For	Vs	Runs	Balls	Analysis
1	510	2015	3600	MR Marsh	Australia	Eng	23	20	9.0-0-33-5
2	281	2015	3599	CJ Anderson	New Zealand	Slk	75	46	3.1-0-18-2
3	278	2015	3606	SC Williams	Zimbabwe	Uae	76*	65	8.0-0-43-2
4	251	2015	3605	Shakib Al Hasan	Bangladesh	Afg	63	51	8.5-0-43-2

The trend continues here also. At least we have two all-round performances making the cut. Sean Williams' truly match-winning innings of 76 was well supported by his two middle-order wickets and one catch. This performance was quite close to that of Corey Anderson on the first day. Shakib Al Hasan's performance was almost identical to that of Williams. One reason why his performance ranked slightly lower than Williams is his economy rate vis-a-vis the team rate.

Top Team performances in WC 2015: in 8 matches played so far

SNo	Rating Pts	Year	ODI#	Team	Own score	Vs	Other score
1	640	2015	3605	Bangladesh	267 for 10 in 50.0	Afg	162 for 10 in 42.5
2	596	2015	3600	Australia	342 for 9 in 50.0	Eng	231 for 10 in 41.5
3	596	2015	3599	New Zealand	331 for 6 in 50.0	Slk	233 for 10 in 46.1
4	592	2015	3602	India	300 for 7 in 50.0	Pak	224 for 10 in 47.0
5	590	2015	3603	Ireland	307 for 6 in 45.5	Win	304 for 7 in 50.0
6	588	2015	3604	New Zealand	146 for 7 in 24.5	Sco	142 for 10 in 36.2
7	574	2015	3601	South Africa	339 for 4 in 50.0	Zim	277 for 10 in 48.2
8	534	2015	3606	Zimbabwe	286 for 6 in 48.0	Uae	285 for 7 in 50.0
9	416	2015	3604	Scotland	142 for 10 in 36.2	Nzl	146 for 7 in 24.5
10	410	2015	3600	England	231 for 10 in 41.5	Aus	342 for 9 in 50.0

We have some real changes as far as team table is concerned. Bangladesh's very easy win goes to the top, with 640 points. The main reason for this is the fact that the win margin is around 40% of the team runs. A far easier win than those backed by first-innings totals of 300 runs. New Zealand lost out because they had lost too many wickets. The wicket-resource remaining was very little even though 50% of the ball-resource was still available. They are still in the top ten.

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.