Record-keepers and statisticians have been kept on their toes at the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup, with a plethora of records broken just 10 matches into the tournament.
From single-innings efforts to continued excellence across multiple campaigns, teams and players have made their name.
Fastest to 50 CWC wickets: Mitchell Starc
The leading wicket-taker in both the 2015 and 2019 campaigns, Mitchell Starc has been a titan in tournament play, and has begun strongly in his third Cricket World Cup Tournament.
Claiming 22 wickets in 2015 at 10.18 and an economy of 3.50, equal-best with Trent Boult, Starc went outright top four years late, finishing with 27 wickets, six ahead of the next best bowler and achieving the feat even without Australia reaching the final.
With six innings to spare, Starc claimed the wicket-taking record off Lasith Malinga when dismissing India opener Ishan Kishan for a golden duck.
The canny Sri Lanka quick took 25 innings to reach 50 wickets in Cricket World Cups, with another Australia fast bowler in Glenn McGrath and Sri Lanka spinner Muttiah Muralitharan next best to hit the mark from 30 innings.
Fastest CWC century: Aiden Markram
Several players had threated Kevin O’Brien’s 50-ball effort on that famous 2011 Bangalore night against England, though it took 12 years and a return to India for the fastest century record to be broken.
In a night where almost everyone stood up for the Proteas against Sri Lanka in match four of the tournament, Aiden Markram shone brightest. Hitting 14 fours by dissecting gaps and hitting three sixes to hammer the point in, Sri Lanka were bereft of answers, and Markram bettered the record by a solitary ball.
In a tournament with a dozen centuries recorded in 10 matches, the prospect of Markram keeping the record for the tournament is by no means guaranteed.
Rohit Sharma and Kusal Mendis have recorded 63 and 65-ball centuries already at Cricket World Cup 2023, and the tournament promises high scores even if the pitches become slower in due course.
Biggest CWC team total in history: South Africa (428/5)
Markram was the headline, though it’d be remiss not to acknowledge the Proteas batting engine room that delivered its threatening power, posting an unseen 428 at a global tournament.
After a measured opening 10 overs., the Proteas moved at seven-an-over from overs 11 to 20, before 88 runs were compiled from overs 21-30. Incredibly, the team scored 137 runs in a final 10-over blitz.
Rassie van der Dussen and Quinton de Kock joined Markram as centurions in what was a demolition of the Sri Lankan bowling attack, and it was just the fourth time an ODI (and first at the Cricket World Cup) where a team’s batting scorecard had three centuries written on it.
The 107 boundaries across both innings was the most in a World Cup game, and it was the highest aggregate for a men’s ODI World Cup match, going past the 714 runs in the 2019 game between Australia and Bangladesh in Nottingham.
Biggest chase in CWC history: Pakistan (345)
Mohammad Rizwan and Abdullah Shafique scored world-class centuries to lift Pakistan to the biggest-ever successful chase in ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup history to beat Sri Lanka in a stellar performance in Hyderabad.
Wedged in a corner at 37/2 after losing Babar Azam, Shafique’s poise and Rizwan’s presence built a strong platform, mixing power and touch to put on 176 with relative ease.
Shafique would eventually fall for 113 (103), though Rizwan (131* from 121) prevailed with the help of the brute force of Iftikhar Ahmed’s 22* (10) to chase down with 10 balls to spare.
Most CWC hundreds (7) and most international sixes (556): Rohit Sharma
Standing records never stood a chance in front of Rohit Sharma, as he led his side to a comfortable win over Afghanistan in Delhi.
Rohit blazed 131 in just 84 balls as his team cruised past Afghanistan’s 272, eventually winning with 90 balls to spare.
In his trademark mix of brash and balance at the crease, the skipper blazed 16 fours and five sixes, completely dictating terms at the Arun Jaitley Stadium. In the knock, he went clear of compatriot Sachin Tendulkar with seven Cricket World Cup centuries.
Incredibly, Rohit has achieved the record in just 19 innings and across in only three World Cup campaigns, in comparison to Tendulkar’s 44 innings.
But it will be tough going to reach Tendulkar’s record for the most runs at Cricket World Cups of 2278 at an average 56.95, though Rohit boasts a superior average of 65.23 which is also the highest among players to reach four figures across the tournaments.
The five sixes Rohit struck in Delhi moved him to 556 sixes across the three formats of international cricket, passing the previous record-holder in the category, Chris Gayle.
Rohit managed to pass the West Indies opener in almost 80 fewer innings across formats (472).
Other ODI and CWC records broken at India 2023
It’s been a tournament of numerical curiosity, with a spate of records and firsts either across ODIs or national records:
– First time in ODI history where all 11 batters registered double-digit scores: England v New Zealand, match 1.
– Most Men’s CWC wickets by any left-arm spinner in the tournament: Shakib Al Hasan
– First time three batters have scored centuries in the same innings in Men’s CWC: South Africa v Sri Lanka, match 4.
– Most runs scored in a match: South Africa v Sri Lanka: 754
– Fastest to reach 1000 runs in Men’s CWC : Rohit Sharma and David Warner (19 innings)
– Joint-most wickets falling to spin in an ICC Men’s CWC match: Australia (6) v India, match 5.
– Three of India’s top four were dismissed for zero, first ever instance for India in ODIs
– Most runs ever in successful ODI run chases: Virat Kohli overtakes Sachin Tendulkar
– Most runs for England at a Men’s CWC (917 runs): Joe Root
– Fastest batter in ODI history to bring up six hundreds: Dawid Malan (23 innings)
– Fastest Sri Lankan hundred at a CWC (65 balls): Kusal Mendis
– Joint fastest player to reach 3000 ODI runs: Imam-ul-Haq (67 innings)
– Fastest century by Indian batter at a Men’s CWC: Rohit Sharma (63 balls)
– Most centuries while chasing totals in Men’s CWCs: Rohit Sharma (3)