Top bowling performances at World Cup

The Cricket World Cup 2015 witnessed some mesmerising bowling performances. From Mitchell Starc to Trent Boult to Wahab Riaz, there were quite a few awe-inspring spells. Here is Cricbuzz's list of top bowling efforts.

Wahab Riaz (9-0-54-2 vs Australia at Adelaide)

When Pakistan scored 213 in the quarterfinal, it looked like Australia would cruise to the target. Looking at Australia's 216 for 4 in 33.5 overs, one would think that the co-hosts won the match without breaking a sweat but that wasn't the case, thanks to a big-hearted fast bowling performance from Riaz. The 29-year-old left-armer bowled with incredible pace and succeeded in targeting the batsmen's body with short-pitched stuff. After tempting David Warner to cut him to Rahat Ali at third man, Riaz unleashed a spate of bouncers and removed Michael Clarke who fended a snorter into the hands of Sohaib Maqsood at short leg. Riaz kept at it and made the experienced Shane Watson look ordinary. If it weren't for a couple of drop catches off his bowling, the match would have been even closer. Riaz's bowling was definitely one of the cherished memories from the tournament.

Rubel Hossain (9.3-0-53-4 vs England at Adelaide)

Twice the fast bowler took two wickets in an over and came to Bangladesh's rescue in their hour of need. In their chase of 276, England were fairly placed at 121 for 2 at one time and Ian Bell looked good for a big score. But Hossain removed him for 63 and then three balls later got the prized wicket of Eoin Morgan for 0 to put his team back on top.Then towards the end, with England needing 16 runs off two overs, Hossain bowled the penultimate over and showed some real pace and cleaned up Stuart Broad and James Anderson in the space of three balls to seal a historic win for his team. Bangladesh for the first time in their cricket history reached the quarterfinals.

Mitchell Starc (9-0-28-6 vs New Zealand, Auckland)

Defending 151 at Eden Park, Australia needed a Herculean effort even to make a match of it. Thanks to a deadly spell from Starc, not only did they make a match of it but also came within one wicket of what could have been a defying-all-odds victory. The left-armer consistently bowled at 145-150 kmph and four out of his six wickets were "bowled", a testament to his accuracy and pace. Kane Willamson hit Pat Cummins for six to seal the match in New Zealand's favour but Starc was the man of the moment for throwing a big scare into the Black Caps. The match was the real arrival of Starc and he eventually finished the tournament with 22 wickets in eight matches, for which he was adjudged Man of the Series.

Trent Boult (10-3-27-5 vs Australia at Auckland)

In the same match, the man responsible for the Aussie batsmen's tame surrender was none other than Boult. The left-arm fast bowler, who finished as joint highest wicket-taker with Starc, had the eventual champions under the pump that day. He swung the ball both ways and there was no breathing space for the opposition batsmen. Michael Clarke, Glenn Maxwell, Mitchell Marsh, Mitchell Johnson and Starc were his victims. Starc later gave New Zealand a taste of their own medicine but Boult's bowling meant that the Aussies were always sailing upstream in the match. The 25-year-old was rightly chosen Man of the Match for his match-defining bowling.

Imran Tahir (8.2-0-26-4 vs Sri Lanka at Sydney)

The South Africa legspinner took 5 for 45 against West Indies but the 257-run win against the Caribbean team was set up by the batsmen, AB de Villiers in particular who made a 66-ball 162*. However, it was Tahir who made the difference in South Africa's quarterfinal win over a strong Sri Lanka by nine wickets. After losing Kusal Perera and Tillakaratne Dilshan early, the Sri Lankan innings appeared to be getting back on track thanks to a fifty-run stand between Lahiru Thirimanne and Kumar Sangakkara who came into the match on the back of four consecutive tons - a world record. Tahir first removed Thirimmane and then five overs later broke the back of the Lankan innings with the wicket of Mahela Jayawardene, one of the best players against spin. He went on to take the wickets of Thisara Perera and Lasith Malinga and the Lankans were skittled for a lowly 133.

JP Duminy (9-1-29-3 vs Sri Lanka at Sydney)

Tahir picked up the Man-of-the-match award for his match-defining bowling but in the same match part-time offspinner Duminy made history and played his part in the win. At 114 for 5, the Lankans were desperately hoping for a significant stand but Duminy's wicket of Angelo Mathews off the last delivery of the 33rd over made the situation even gloomier for the subcontinental team. And then in his next over, Duminy achieved a rare feat - a hat-trick. He dispatched Nuwan Kulasekara and Tharindu Kausal off the first two balls of his next over to become the first South African player to register a World Cup hat-trick.

Tim Southee (9-0-33-7 vs England at Wellington)

The New Zealand fast bowler's career-best figures - also a Black Caps record - subjected England to an ignominious defeat. Batting first at Westpac Stadium,England failed to deal with the brilliant swing bowling of Southee and were shot out for 123 in 33.2 overs. In his opening spell of five overs, Southee removed openers Ian Bell and Moeen Ali in quick succession and then returned in the 27th over to completely demolish the English team. In his four overs, he accounted for Ross Taylor, Jos Buttler, Chris Woakes, Stuart Broad and Steven Finn. It was a mortifying experience for Eoin Morgan's men.

James Faulkner (9-1-36-3 vs New Zealand at Melbourne)

The allrounder chose the biggest match of the tournament to leave his impression - the World Cup final against New Zealand. A fourth-wicket century stand between Grant Elliott and Ross Taylor had Australia in a spot of bother when Faulkner used a back-of-the-hand delivery to remove Taylor caught behind. Two balls later, an in-swinging yorker cleaned up Corey Anderson and New Zealand's all hopes of a competitive total were effectively over there. Six overs later, Faulkner struck again and this time accounted for Elliott who top-scored for the Blacks Caps with 83. These crucial wickets - which fetched Faulkner the Man-of-the-Match award - were the reason why New Zealand were bowled out for 183 in 45 overs, after which the Aussie batsmen cantered to the target.