One-sided games, and boundaries aplenty

After 11 days and 14 matches in the World Cup, there have been no major upsets. Instead, the top teams have, rather predictably, either piled up huge scores or taken quick wickets in comfortable wins against the Associates. On batting-friendly pitches in the subcontinent, high scores and run-rates were always expected to be the norm, but the starts haven't always been as explosive as expected, and spinners haven't been all that effective. Here's a look at some of the statistical highlights from the World Cup so far. (All stats updated till before the England-Ireland game in Bangalore.)

One-sided contests
Out of 14 matches so far, ten have been decided by a margin of more than 75 runs, or by seven or more wickets with more than 40 balls to spare. In four games, the margin was 175 runs or more, and in two others, the team chasing won with more than 30 overs to spare.

Tough for the bowlers
The average run-rate in the first 14 matches is 5.27, which is well ahead of the run-rate in the 2007 World Cup (4.95). The rate in the first innings is 5.55, which is well above the mark for the 2007 World Cup (5.19). If the two low-scoring innings of Kenya are excluded, the run rate for the first innings is nearly 5.82.

Spin not a huge threat yet
Shahid Afridi is the leading wicket-taker so far with nine, but the next 11 positions are all taken by fast bowlers. Spinners have been more economical, conceding 4.91 runs per over compared to 5.43 by the pace bowlers', but their average of nearly 36 runs per wicket is considerably higher than that of the fast bowlers (29.37).

High match aggregates
While the 2007 World Cup had five matches with an aggregate of more than 550 runs, there have already been three such matches in this World Cup, including the India-England game in Bangalore, which had a World Cup record aggregate of 676 runs.

Century stands galore
There have been 12 century partnerships in just 14 matches so far, which is nearly one per match. If this ratio continues, it'll be the highest for all World Cups. The 1996 World Cup comes closest, with 28 stands in 36 matches. The tournament which had the lowest rate of century partnerships per match is the 2003 World Cup, which had just 25 century stands in 52 matches.

The fours and sixes equation
In the nine previous World Cups, the 1975 World Cup is, rather surprisingly, the tournament with the highest number of fours per match (38.33). In the first 14 matches, the 2011 World Cup has marginally exceeded that number, with an average of 38.57 fours per game. Sri Lanka (79 fours) and India (67 fours) have scored the most fours in the World Cup so far. While the 2007 World Cup had the most sixes per match (7.31), this edition is not far behind, with nearly five sixes per game. India and West Indies have been by far the biggest contributors with 14 sixes each in two games.

Doing it in boundaries
In terms of runs scored in boundaries, India and Sri Lanka head the list, with 340 runs in fours and sixes. India also head the table in the boundary run percentage (48.02%), followed by New Zealand (47.48%). Andrew Strauss has hit the most fours (29), followed by Tillakaratne Dilshan, who has 21. Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar, with five sixes each, head the list of batsmen with most sixes in the World Cup so far.

Running the threes
The most threes haven't been run by Australia, South Africa or England - that record belongs to Pakistan, who have run ten threes, followed by Sri Lanka with nine. A part of the reason for that is the fact that they've played in Hambantota, which is a bigger ground than most other venues. Out of 52 threes in 14 matches so far, 14 have come in a couple of games in Hambantota.

Hat-trick heroes
Lasith Malinga, with his hat-trick against Kenya, became the first bowler to take two hat-tricks in World Cups. His previous hat-trick came against South Africa in 2007, when he picked up four wickets in four balls. Malinga's hat-trick came a game after after Kemar Roach's effort against Canada. This is the first time that there have been hat-tricks in two consecutive matches in World Cups, and only the second time - after the 2003 edition - that a World Cup tournament has had two hat-tricks.

The mandatory and bowling Powerplays
The mandatory Powerplay (first ten overs) has been a good period for batsmen, with teams scoring at a run rate of 5.08 and averaging 43.05. Teams batting first have a better average in the mandatory Powerplay (50.53) than teams chasing (36.57). In the bowling Powerplay, the run-rate drops to 4.63, and the average to 32.40. Teams batting second, though, do slightly better in this Powerplay (average 35.12, run-rate 4.68) compared to the teams batting first (average 29, run-rate 4.53).

The batting Powerplay mystery
The overall run-rate in these Powerplays is 7.83, and the average 22.68, which translates into a five-over score of 39 runs for the loss of 1.7 wickets. The teams batting first have done much better, with a run rate of 8.62 and average of 27.41. In the second innings, they average just 16 and score at 6.40 runs per over.

Dot-ball percentage
Kenya have faced 429 dot balls, the most by any team in the tournament. They are followed by Canada (340) and Sri Lanka (332). However, Canada have the highest dot-ball percentage of 71.72, followed by Kenya, with 71.02%. South Africa have faced the least dot-balls (113) and India have the lowest dot-ball percentage (39.06).