The usual candidates like Virat Kohli and Jos Buttler also feature in our Team of the Tournament, put together using Smart Stats
S Rajesh14-Nov-2022Jos Buttler (capt & wk)
Opened the batting, kept wicket, led his team and in general did much of the heavy lifting in England’s successful campaign. He started the tournament slowly, with 18 and 0 in his first two innings, but found his groove with a 47-ball 73 against New Zealand, and didn’t look back thereafter. Along with Alex Hales, he destroyed India in the semi-final, and though his contribution in the final wasn’t huge, he set the ball rolling for a tricky run-chase with a crisp 17-ball 26.Alex Hales
Back in favour with the England management after a significant absence, Hales justified the show of faith with key contributions at the top of the order in must-win games. His best was the unbeaten 47-ball 86 which shut out India and got 107.5 impact points, the eighth-highest among all batting efforts in the tournament. He also scored a vital half-century against New Zealand and 47 against Sri Lanka. Hales and Buttler were without doubt the outstanding batting pair of the tournament, scoring 368 runs at a rate of 9.2 per over; no other pair managed even 230 runs.Jos Buttler and Alex Hales – England’s dynamic duo opens for ESPNcricinfo’s Team of the Tournament too•Getty Images
Virat Kohli
Virat Kohli turned into a run-machine, again, in this tournament. Back in his favourite Australia, he found the perfect tempo for most of his innings, while conditions suited his style of play as well. His stunning unbeaten 82 against Pakistan got India’s campaign off on an unbelievable high and was ranked sixth in terms of impact points for a batting performance. No batter scored as many runs (296) or fifties (four) as he did in the tournament, and the fact that he was dismissed just thrice meant he finished with a Bradmanesque average (98.66) as well.ESPNcricinfo Ltd
Suryakumar Yadav
Among all the batters who scored at least 10 runs in the tournament (there were 144 of them), Suryakumar’s strike rate of 189.68 was the highest. In fact, only three others even touched 170 – they were Finn Allen (95 runs), Rashid Khan (57) and Shaheen Shah Afridi (22). The fact that Suryakumar finished with the third-highest aggregate, while also scoring at that phenomenal strike rate, illustrates the stratospheric heights at which he operated throughout the tournament. His average batting impact of 61.69 was the highest among all batters in the tournament.Glenn Phillips
Glenn Phillips had the most impactful match performance of this World Cup: his 64-ball 104 against Sri Lanka fetched 182.6 impact points, primarily because of the context in which he scored those runs. Phillips came in at 7 for 2 which soon became 15 for 3 after four overs; while he was at the crease, the other batters made 42 from 43 balls; the next-highest score in the innings was 22, and in the entire match was 35. He also scored 62 off 36 in a losing cause against England.Glenn Phillips took off with bat and in the field this tournament•ICC/Getty Images
Sikandar Raza
Sikandar Raza was the only player to achieve the double of 200 runs and 10 wickets in the tournament (though admittedly he also benefited from playing extra matches in the qualifying first round). In those three first-round matches, Raza was outstanding with both bat and ball, scoring 136 runs in three innings at a strike rate of 172, and taking five wickets at an economy rate of 5.54. In the Super 12s the runs dried up a bit – 83 in five innings – but he starred with the ball in Zimbabwe’s brightest moment of the tournament, taking 3 for 25 as they beat Pakistan by one run. No batter hit as many sixes as Raza did (11) over the entire tournament.Shadab Khan
He was at the heart of Pakistan’s revival. After losing two of their first three games, in a must-win match against South Africa, Pakistan had slumped to 95 for 5 when Shadab rescued them with a dynamic 22-ball 52. He then chipped in with two wickets as well – including the key one of Aiden Markram – and Pakistan were up and running in the tournament. Shadab the bowler was consistency personified: not once did he go for more than 33, while four out of seven times he went at under a run a ball. His 11 wickets in the middle overs was the highest aggregate by any bowler in that phase in the entire tournament.How is Smart Stats’ Total Impact calculated?
Total Impact for a player in a match is a numerical value that is the sum of his Batting and Bowling Impacts. These Impacts are calculated based on the context of a batting/bowling performance.
The context is based on an algorithm that quantifies the pressure on the batter/bowler at every ball of an innings. The factors that go into calculating the pressure index include runs required, overs left, quality of batters at the crease and those to follow, quality of bowlers and number of overs left for each bowler, and pitch/conditions and how easy/tough it is for batters/bowlers.
Sam Curran
Almost half the total deliveries Sam Curran bowled in this campaign were at the death (64 out of his 136 balls were bowled between overs 17 and 20). England trusted him with a difficult job, and he more than justified their faith in him, returning exceptional figures of 9 for 70 in those 64 balls: an average of 7.77, and an economy rate of 6.56. His 5 for 10 against Afghanistan was the best bowling figures of the tournament in terms of raw numbers, but in terms of impact that was easily bettered by what he did in the final: 3 for 12 from four, including only seven from overs 17 and 19. In terms of bowling impact it fetched 100.1 points, the third-highest for any bowling performance in the tournament.Mark Wood
Wood played only four matches before being sidelined, but with his hostile pace he made an impact in every game, taking three-wicket hauls in two of the four games. He finished with nine wickets at a strike rate of 9.3 balls per wicket, the best among all bowlers who sent down at least 10 overs in the tournament. Eight of those wickets were of batters in the top six, which meant those wickets invariably put the skids on the scoring rate. His economy rate was slightly high, but given his striking abilities, that was a worthy trade-off.Josh Little
Josh Little had a remarkable tournament. Not only did he take a hat-trick against New Zealand – one of only two in the tournament – he also held his own against the big boys in the Super 12s. In the qualifying first round, his four wickets came at an average of 21.25 and an economy rate of 7.08; in the Super 12s, he improved them both, taking seven wickets at an average of 14.85 and an economy rate of 6.93. Figures of 2 for 16 in that famous win against England when he dismissed both openers, 2 for 21 against Australia and 3 for 22 against New Zealand were ample proof of just how effective he can be against the top teams.Josh Little (centre) showed a big gun or two how it’s done•PA Photos/Getty Images
Anrich Nortje
South Africa’s tournament turned into one to forget, but one player who stood out for them was Anrich Nortje. His stats do justice to the way he bowled: 11 wickets at 8.54, an economy rate of 5.37 and a strike rate of 9.5 balls per wicket. Among the 50 bowlers who bowled more than 12 overs in the tournament, his economy rate was the best while his strike rate was only marginally bettered by Mark Wood (9.3). In a tournament where Kagiso Rabada flopped badly, Nortje gave his captain both control and incisiveness. Not surprisingly, Nortje’s bowling impact rating of 51.84 was way better than anyone else’s (with a four-match cut-off); the next-best was Curran at 46.58.Hardik Pandya (12th man)
Hardik Pandya’s bowling was an asset throughout the tournament (except in India’s last game against England), while his batting shone in India’s first and last games.
