With Ireland exiting the World Cup on Sunday, following the seven-wickets defeat to Pakistan, CricketEurope evaluates each player's performance and awards a mark out of 10, judged against a world-class standard.

7William Porterfield - 275 runs at 45.83, SR 67.23
An inventive and bold captain who manages meagre resources and leads by example in the field, Porterfield's 107 against Pakistan - compiled against a rapid and skilful attack - was one of the finest innings in Irish colours. Moreover, his final tally of 275 runs is the highest ever recorded by an Irishman at the World Cup. One sticking point, notwithstanding his ‘anchor' role, is Porterfield's scoring rate: 30 batsmen scored more than 200 runs in the group stage of the World Cup and only one - Samiullah Shenwari of Afghanistan - scored more slowly. That aside, he could not have done much more.

7Andrew Balbirnie - 236 runs at 39.33, SR 90.76
A few observers doubted Balbirnie before the tournament began, but an unbeaten 63 against Bangladesh in the final warm-up match secured his place. A nervy start was then addressed with a maiden ODI half-century, which was followed by a match-winning 97 against Zimbabwe. Probably Ireland's best player of spin-bowling, Balbirnie is also the only Irish batsman who looks truly comfortable playing the sweeps, ramps, and scoops of the modern one-day game.

7Alex Cusack - 7 wickets at 24.57, 4.58 rpo
Ireland's leading bowler by a distance, Cusack maintained the best lines of the seamers, repeatedly changing his pace without sacrificing accuracy. Indeed, he was probably the only Irish bowler for whom Porterfield could set a reliable field under the new ‘five men in' regulations. His 4-32 against the Zimbabweans and 2-54 amidst the carnage of the last overs against the UAE went a long way to securing those two victories for the Irish.

4George Dockrell - 5 wickets at 57.60, 6.00 rpo
Second season syndrome? Dockrell wowed the neutrals in India in 2011 with his unerring accuracy. This time round, however, there was no help from the pitches as barely a ball turned off the straight. World-leading spinners adapted by manipulating the ball through the air and by suffocating batsmen, but Dockrell - after taking 3-50 against the West Indies - was unusually erratic and suffered the consequences. Far from the ten ‘bankable' overs that so many expected.

8Ed Joyce - 246 runs at 41.00, SR 98.40
The churlish observer might suggest that Joyce failed against the three best teams in the group, got lucky against the UAE, and was dropped by the West Indians and the Zimbabweans. Most others would suggest that ‘class will out' and that Joyce's healthy return was deserved reward for the best batsman outside of Test cricket: across the globe in 2014, only EIGHT batsmen scored more first-class runs than Joyce and only one of them - Yorkshire's Adam Lyth - had a better average. That Joyce scored at the same rate as Stirling and O'Brien is testament to benefits of the experience, guile, and timing he possesses.

6Andy McBrine - 3 wickets at 48.33, 5.17 rpo
A surprise pick for the first match against the West Indies, McBrine bowled beautifully, recording figures of 10 overs for 26. It helped that the West Indians are dreadful at manoeuvring spin, but that was a spell to remember. Useful wickets followed against South Africa - bagging ‘the big two' might have saved Ireland fifty runs - and the Donemana man was a livewire in the field.

4John Mooney - 51 runs at 12.75, SR 78.46, 4 wickets at 71.25, 6.33 rpo
There was an excellent spell against South Africa and Mooney generally started well with the new ball, bowling wide of the crease and shaping the ball away from the right-hander, but he took only four wickets in the tournament. Moreover, upon returning to the attack he struggled with the lack of lateral movement and his later overs went at 8.14. Only 51 runs with the bat, which is too few for an all-rounder batting at eight. However, for his reaction to ‘that' article in the Zimbabwean press: 10

4Kevin O'Brien - 131 runs at 21.83, SR 100.00; 6 wickets at 68.00, 8.18 rpo
With the exception of a rapid - and vital - half-century against the UAE, O'Brien struggled with the bat: 48 against South Africa looks good, but 36 of those runs came against part-timers. With the ball, it was a nightmare: trusted to bowl at difficult times, O'Brien's lack of control made it impossible for Porterfield to set a field. Ten overs for 49 during Pakistan's go-slow put a bit of a shine on things, but nobody who bowled more than thirty overs - for any team - had a worse economy rate.

7Niall O'Brien - 199 runs at 39.80, SR 109.34
No Irishman has a better batting average against the eight ‘senior' Full Members than O'Brien, who was Ireland's leading run-scorer at the 2007 and 2011 tournaments. 2015 was a relatively quiet World Cup, but only because of the improved depth in Irish batting. Two punchy and ebullient innings against the West Indies (a match-winning 79*) and India (75) punctuated four low scores, although one of them came from the confusingly low position of no. 8 against Zimbabwe.

2Max Sorensen - 3 wickets at 66.67, 8.33 rpo
Not picked in the original squad and a puzzling initial selection ahead of Chase, Young, and Cusack. Neither quick nor accurate enough to keep his head above water at this level, Sorensen was targeted by opposition batsmen, and not just by Amla and Du Plessis.

5Paul Stirling - 159 runs at 26.50, SR 100.00; 2 wickets at 97.50 at 5.70 rpo
Against the West Indians he looked like a world-class opening batsman, brutal and clinical. Following that knock of 92, however, Stirling managed just 67 runs at 13.40. There was an excellent start against India, an innings that promised much, but he holed out to long-off as Ireland struggled to work out Ravichandran Ashwin. Stirling's off-spin started well, too, but in the end he picked up only 2 wickets, and both of them came against the UAE.

2Stuart Thompson - 3 wickets at 34.66, 6.50 rpo
Some questioned his selection for the India match, even more questioned his selection for the Pakistan match. Too short and too wide too often, his two opening overs went for a total of 33 runs, but Thompson picked up three wickets (albeit from two skiers and a chop-on). He's only 23 and could well have more World Cups ahead of him, but he was not ready for this one.

5Gary Wilson - 141 runs at 23.50, SR 103.67
Apart a match-winning 80 against the United Arab Emirates, this was a quiet tournament for Wilson: 29 against Pakistan was his next highest score. Not much can be said about his keeping: it was tidy and proficient when required and Wilson took four catches, but Ireland's bowlers beat the bat so infrequently that he had little to do.

AVERAGE TEAM RATING: 5.23