England won the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 final against New Zealand on boundary count after the super over also ended in a tie at Lord's on Sunday.
Here is a look at the top 10 wicket-takers in the tournament.
1. Mitchell Starc
This has been the tournament of the pace spearheads and who else but Mitchell Starc to lead the pack! His two fifers against New Zealand and West Indies, and two four-wicket hauls against England and Sri Lanka headlined Australia’s surge in this tournament.
Starc surpassed compatriot Glenn McGrath’s record of taking the most wickets in a single edition of the World Cup (26 wickets in 2007 World Cup). He is also past his own tally of 22 wickets, which topped the wicket-taking charts in the last World Cup.
2. Lockie Ferguson
There was quite the buzz regarding Kiwi pacer when Kolkata Knight Riders drafted him at the IPL auction.
Ferguson, 28, who regularly bowls at more than 145kmph, failed to shine in the premier T20 franchise league, picking up only two wickets in five matches. World Cup has been a different story. He has taken at least one wicket in each match and his best figures came against Afghanistan (4/37).
3. Jofra Archer
It took only four overs at the first Royal London ODI for the pacy all-rounder to make a strong case for himself to be bowling at the marquee event.
Making the squad, after a lot of speculation, Archer made sure that the batsmen feel the heat.
But are Archer’s deliveries just about brute pace? Sure, it is an asset, but there is more in his repertoire.
Swing ensures ‘you couldn’t play him, you couldn’t leave him either’.
Archer also became the highest wicket-taker for the side in a single edition of the World Cup surpassing the likes of Ian Botham (16 in 1992), Andrew Flintoff (14 in 2007), Vic Marks (13 in 1983) and Eddie Hemmings (13 in 1987).
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4. Mustafizur Rahman
Mustafizur Rahman claimed two fifers on the trot in his last two matches, a tad bit too late when the Tigers’ semifinal hopes seemed all but over.
Fizz, who clinched his 100th ODI victim on Friday, following the dismissal of Pakistan’s Haris Sohail, also became the joint-fourth-quickest with New Zealand’s Shane Bond to 100 wickets (in just 54 games) joining the likes of Rashid Khan, Mitchell Starc and Saqlain Mushtaq.
He is only the sixth bowler from Bangladesh to claim more than 100 wickets.
5. Jasprit Bumrah
He is not conventional. Batsmen are finding the going difficult with his unorthodox action, searing and relentless pace, awkward angles, accuracy and toe-crushing yorkers.
His wickets have come at an impressive economy rate of 4.41, helping Kohli and Co. dominate the opposition. His bowling at the death has experts singing his praise.
In the initial matches, Bumrah, 25, mostly restricted himself to the shorter channels. Later, he picked up his game, all the more evident during the final overs against Bangladesh when its lower order started going after what gradually started to seem like an impossible target. Against Sri Lanka, Bumrah added another feather to his cap by becoming the second-fastest Indian to clinch 100 wickets. He took 57 innings to achieve the feat, one more than teammate Mohammed Shami.
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6. Mark Wood
Operating in tandem with Jofra Archer, Wood snapped up three three-wicket hauls against West Indies, Sri Lanka and New Zealand.
Against the Windies, Wood had an economy rate of 2.7!
7. Trent Boult
You cannot really count out World No. 2 ODI bowler Trent Boult when it comes to a list of the most wickets.
Boult, 29, claimed his second four wicket-haul in the World Cup against Australia. But this wasn’t any ordinary four-for.
In the process, the Kiwi speedster also claimed his second ODI hat-trick, his first in a Cricket World Cup. Interestingly, two of the last three ODI hat-tricks now have been pocketed by Boult. The other belongs to Mohammed Shami, who claimed the first hat-trick of this World Cup.
The left-arm pace bowler from New Zealand, who now has 39 wickets in the World Cup, became his country's highest wicket-taker in the tournament, surpassing Daniel Vettori and Jacob Oram (36 wickets).
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8. Mohammad Amir
He dismissed Virat Kohli, Hardik Pandya and Mahendra Singh Dhoni in Pakistan’s group clash against India. Although, Pakistan lost, Amir stamped his class. Amir registered his career best figure in ODIs – 5/30 against Australia in Taunton.
The fifer, his maiden, was again made special as he joined Wasim Akram, Shahid Afridi, Saqlain Mushtaq, Abdul Qadir, Wahab Riaz and Sohail Khan in the list of Pakistan bowlers with five-wicket hauls in World Cups. Amir, however, is the first Pakistan bowler to achieve the feat against Australia.
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9. Shaheen Shah Afridi
Pakistan got another match-winning Afridi in 19-year-old Shaheen. The tall and lanky pacer has troubled the best of batsmen with pace and a high release point.
He created history in the match against Bangladesh when he became the youngest to claim five wickets in a World Cup. His figures of 6/35 are also, by far, the best bowling figures in the group phase, and also bettered the best bowling figures by a Pakistani in World Cups (Shahid Afridi’s 5/16 against Kenya in 2011).
Shaheen's wicket tally is the highest by a teenager in a single edition of the World Cup.
10. Chris Woakes
England has a long line of talented pacers, who have been performing extremely well over the last couple of years. Woakes, who debuted for England in 2011, has been a regular feature in the ODI side. He has been one of England's pace spearheads.
Woakes also became the 3rd England bowler to take 3 wickets in a men's Cricket World Cup final after Derek Pringle (3/22 in 1992) and Liam Plunkett (3/42 in 2019).
Morgan has also given Woakes the ball in the opening over of each of England's World Cup matches (11/11). Sheldon Cottrell (8/8) is the only other bowler to do this for their side.
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