Starc, de Villiers 'most influential' players at World Cup

Mitchell Starc and AB de Villiers were the 'most influential' players in bowling and batting respectively at the recently-concluded ICC World Cup 2015. Rediff Labs presents the details.

Most Influential Bowlers

Australia's fifth World Cup triumph was largely possible due to the efforts of fast bowler Mitchell Starc, who had a sensational run in the mega event Down Under.

With 22 wickets, he was the joint highest-wicket taker with New Zealand’s Trent Boult, but made a far greater impact with the ball than the Kiwi pacer.

The left-arm pacer's 22 wickets cost him 3.5 runs per over throughout the World Cup for an impressive strike rate of 17.4 and an unbelievable average of 10.18.

Starc, who was named the player of the World Cup, finished as the most influential bowler in the World Cup with a score of 622.

The 'Bowling Impact Score' is derived by multiplying the economy rate, strike rate and average and sorted from lower to high; the lower the score, the higher the player's performance.

Most Influential Batsmen

His team may have lost out in the semi-finals but South Africa captain AB de Villiers finished as the most influential batsman in the World Cup.

Though de Villiers in third on the run-scoring list in the World Cup with 482 runs behind New Zealand’s Martin Guptill (547 runs) and Sri Lankan legend Kumar Sangakkara (541 runs), his impact with the bat was quite clear.

He boasted of an impressive strike rate of 144 coupled with a batting average of 96, as he hit three fifties and one century in the tournament. The 'Batting Impact Score' is derived by multiplying runs and striking rate and sorted from high to low; the higher the score value, the higher the player's performance.

Gayle is top six hitter

As expected, West Indies opener Chris Gayle finished with the most sixes in the World Cup despite playing lesser games than some of the other players in the tournament.

The West Indies were knocked out in the quarter-finals, but he finished top of the six-hitting list with 26 sixes in six games at an average of 4.3 sixes per match.

South Africa captain AB de Villiers was a distant second with 21 sixes from eight games, at a rate of 2.6 sixes per match.

Brendon Taylor of Zimbabwe is the surprise package with an impressive rate of two sixes per match for a tally of 12 sixes in six games.

New Zealand's opening duo of Brendon McCullum and Martin Guptill are also among the top six hitters in the competition with 17 and 16 sixes respectively.

Meanwhile, India's openers -- Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma -- feature way down the list with nine sixes each.

Top six hitters at the World Cup: