It went on for an age and a shambolic England side went home before it got interesting . Wisden Editor Lawrence Booth picks his highlights and lowlights of the Cricket World Cup ... BEST BITS . The renaissance of left-arm seamers . The yorkers produced at will by man of the tournament Mitchell Starc played a huge part in Australia ’ s triumph . New Zealand ’ s Trent Boult joined him on top of the wicket-taking list with 22 . And the most uplifting spell of the competition was Pakistan ’ s Wahab Riaz in the quarter-final . Australian Michael Starc took 22 wickets to be rated as the man of the tournament at the Cricket World Cup . Kiwis ’ one-wicket win over Australia . In a World Cup containing more hundreds than ever before ( 38 ) , no game was more thrilling than the low-scoring thriller at Eden Park in Auckland . Set 152 , New Zealand slipped from 131 for 4 to 146 for 9 , before Kane Williamson sealed it with a six amid scenes of delirium . Here was proof that the best games don ’ t need to be run-fests . Kiwi Kane Williamson hit a late six to seal a memorable one-wicket win over Australia in the group stages . The Associates . The first couple of weeks were lit up by teams who will mainly be shut out of the 2019 World Cup , which the ICC have limited to 10 teams : Ireland beat West Indies and Zimbabwe , Scotland gave New Zealand a scare , and Afghanistan beat Scotland . While other sports look to expand their games , cricket ’ s administrators remain content to shrink theirs . Baffling . Kevin O'Brien celebrates taking a wicket as Ireland sensationally upset West Indies in Nelson . Sangakkara still going strong . Sri Lanka ’ s quarter-final defeat by South Africa meant Kumar Sangakkara ’ s one-day international career ended with a whimper — but not before he had scored an astonishing four successive centuries in the group matches . Even at 37 , he remained the classiest act in the World Cup . India veteran batsman Kumar Sangakkara acknowledges one of four successive centuries . The fans . More than a million spectators attended the 49 games , with the New Zealand public getting behind the World Cup in a manner that delighted the ICC . If cricket ’ s popularity in that country has been guaranteed for the next decade and beyond , the World Cup will have done its job . The Cricket World Cup attracted over a million supporters for 49 games , some left more pleased than others . WORST BITS . England . They were the laughing stock , completing the worst of their six World Cups since reaching the final in 1992 — and there ’ s been some stiff competition . They never recovered from maulings by Australia and New Zealand , failed to defend over 300 against Sri Lanka , and even lost to Bangladesh . For captain Eoin Morgan , the whole thing was a disaster . New ODI captain Eoin Morgan presided over England 's worst performance at a World Cup . Too few close finishes . Four one-sided quarter- finals typified a tournament in which too few of the games went to the wire , or even close to it . In fact , of the seven knockout matches , only the New Zealand-South Africa semi-final raised the pulse . And , as in 2011 , the group stage dragged on and on and on . New Zealand 's semi-final defeat of South Africa was the only knockout game that entertained . The final . Australia ’ s dominance turned the climax into an anti-climax . Let ’ s not pretend , as some have tried , that this was the best World Cup ever . The Australians were too far ahead of the rest for that , brushing aside India in the semis and New Zealand in the final . In truth , Australia were head and shoulders above the competition as their stroll in the final showed .
New Zealand defeated Australia to be crowned cricket world champions . Mitchell Starc 's bowling , Kane Williamson 's batting and Kumar Sangakkara 's swan sing were among the highlights . England 's humiliation and a one-sided final were two of the low points .