Boult, Starc in battle to become World Cup's best bowler

Melbourne, March 27 (IANS) As two teams fight it out for the coveted cricket World Cup trophy here on Sunday, New Zealand pacer Trent Boult and Australian fast bowler Mitchell Starc will be involved in another battle -- to become the best bowler of the tournament.

Boult, the left-arm New Zealand speedster, currently heads the bowlers' list with 21 wickets from eight matches with Starc hot on his heels with 20 scalps from seven outings.

Boult's compatriot, opener Martin Guptill will have a chance to go atop the batting ladder which is presently occupied by Sri Lankan great Kumar Sangakkara having made four back-to-back centuries in the tournament.

Guptill is nine runs behind the prolific left-hander with 532 runs from eight games with a batting average of 76. The willower also boasts of the highest individual score in the history of the World Cup as he smashed an unbeaten 237 against the West Indies in the quarter-finals.

Guptill bettered the record set by West Indies opener Chris Gayle, who bludgeoned 215 runs against Zimbabwe earlier in the pool stage of the tournament.

England's Steven Finn, South Africa's Jean-Paul Duminy have so far taken the only hat-tricks in the tournament.

Gayle leads the list of number of sixes hit with 26. He is followed by South Africa captain AB de Villiers with 21. New Zealand skipper Brendon McCullum is four short of de Villiers.

Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni has effected the most dismissals with 15 catches to his credit.

Australian wicket-keeper Brad Haddin is second on the list with 14 dismissals. New Zealand’s Luke Ronchi is in the hunt too with 13.