Top five bowlers after World Cup group stage

The group stage ended as South Africa gained some solace as they beat Australia by 10 runs ending their disappointing World Cup campaign. However, the result had no major effect for the Australian side as they along with India, New Zealand and host England had already qualified for the semi-finals. There were talks that this edition of the mega event would heavily favor the batsmen as 300-350 runs would be a common phenomenon. However, the bowlers had their say on the field.

Looking back, there were bowlers who ripped through the batting lineups. Here is our pick for the top five bowlers from the group stage:

Mitchell Starc (Australia)

Man of the tournament in the previous edition of the World Cup, the Australian pacer did not lose his touch this time around. Having taken 26 wickets in nine matches till now, he is the leading wicket taker by quite some margin with Bangladesh’s Mostafizur Rahman in second. Starc has an economy rate of a below par 5.18 with 5/26 being his best bowling figures in this tournament.

India's Bhuvneshwar Kumar is run out by Bangladesh's Mustafizur Rahman. Photo: Reuters

Mostafizur Rahman (Bangladesh)

Even though Bangladesh have been knocked out from the World Cup in the group stage, the “Cutter-Master” Mostafiz left his mark in this year’s tournament having scalped 20 wickets in eight matches with 5/59 being his best figures. He became only the second bowler after Australian bowler Gary Gilmour in 1975 to scalp consecutive fifers in the World Cup.

Photo: Reuters

Lockie Ferguson (New Zealand)

Lockie Ferguson has definitely established himself as one of the vital members of the New Zealand bowling attack as he scalped 17 wickets in seven matches with an economy rate of 4.96.

Photo: Reuters

Jasprit Bumrah (India)

India’s go to man whenever the opposition looked to score runs freely, Jasprit Bumrah has been India’s secret weapon in the recent times. With his toe-crunching yorkers, Bumrah managed to scalp 17 wickets in eight matches with the economy rate of 4.48.

Photo: Reuters

Mohammad Amir (Pakistan)

Not being picked initially in the squad, Mohammad Amir made sure he made his presence felt in the World Cup haven taken 17 wickets in eight matches with an economy rate  of 4.90 and best bowling figure of 5 for 30.