Busy first week of ICC CWC 2023 for statisticians as multiple records shattered

NEW DELHI: Record keepers and statisticians have had a very busy 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup so far, with many records tumbling in the first week of the tournament itself.

Be it single-inning efforts or continued consistency and greatness across multiple campaigns, many players and teams have made an impact and set new standards. Here are some of the key records shattered in the tournament so far, as per ICC.

Fastest to 50 CWC wickets: Mitchell Starc

The leading wicket-taker in the 2015 and 2019 editions of the tournaments, with the former being a World Cup-winning campaign at home, Starc is truly a World Cup giant and a man for big stages. He has the record of taking the most wickets (27) in a single World Cup edition from 2019. He also took 22 wickets in the 2015 tournament. This year, he became the fastest bowler to take 50 WC wickets, doing so in just 941 balls.

The second-best here is Malinga, who reached the landmark in 1,187 balls. Greats like McGrath, Akram, and Muralitharan are below Starc in this list.

-Fastest Cricket World Cup century: Aiden Markram

Several players threatened Ireland’s Kevin O’Brien’s 50-ball World Cup ton against England in an iconic run-chase and it took 12 years for that record to be broken where it was made, i.e in India.

South Africa batter Aiden Markram joined the Quinton de Kock and Rassie Van Der Dussen’s century party against Sri Lanka at Delhi, smashing his ton in just 49 balls, consisting of 14 fours and three sixes. Markram’s century left Lankans without any answers.

This year in 13 ODIs, Markram has smashed 739 runs at an average of 67.18 and a strike rate of over 127. He has scored three tons and three fifties in 13 innings, with the best score of 175.

-Biggest CWC team total: South Africa (428/5)

Though Markram was the focus against Sri Lanka as he smashed the fastest WC ton, it would be negligent to not mention the Proteas’ top order consisting of Quinton de Kock and Rassie Van Dussen, which produced dangerous power, scoring an unprecedented 428, the highest-ever total in WC history, overtaking Australia’s 417 against Afghanistan in 2015.

After a cautious first ten overs, the Proteas changed gears, scoring at seven runs per over from overs 11 to 20, before scoring 88 runs from overs 21 to 30. In the last 10-over power-hitting masterclass, the team scored 137 runs.

Rassie van der Dussen and Quinton de Kock joined Markram as centurions in a rout of Sri Lanka’s bowling attack, and it was only the fourth occasion in ODI history (and the first at the Cricket World Cup) that a team’s batting scorecard had three centuries written on it. The total of 107 boundaries across both innings was the most in a World Cup game, and record was also made for 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. Both SA and SL (326) scored a combined 754 runs.

-Biggest successful CWC chase: Pakistan (345)
Pakistan had lost two quick wickets, including skipper Babar Azam, while chasing 345 against Sri Lanka at Hyderabad. But later, in-form Mohammed Rizwan (131*) and Abdullah Shafique (113) scored their maiden World Cup centuries to lift Pakistan out of crisis and guide them to the most successful run-chase in the tournament’s history with six wickets and ten balls in hand.

They went past Ireland’s 328-run chase against England in the 2011 World Cup, which included a century from Kevin O’Brien (113).

-Most CWC hundreds (7) and most international sixes (556): Rohit Sharma

Rohit Sharma, who had started his World Cup campaign with a duck against Australia, has a lot of live upto this time around during a WC campaign at home. Not only he is expected to lead India to a third title in front of the home crowd, but also replicate his 2019 WC heroics, in which he scored 648 runs in nine matches with five centuries and topped the batting charts.

Against Afghanistan, shades of 2019 ‘Hitman’ were visible as he smashed one record after the other. Rohit scored 131 off 84 balls to help his team glide past Afghanistan’s 272, eventually winning with 90 balls to spare.

The skipper smashed 16 fours and five sixes in his customary mix of brashness and balance at the crease, utterly dictating terms at the Arun Jaitley Stadium. With the knock, he surpassed compatriot Sachin Tendulkar’s record of six Cricket World Cup hundreds, smashing his seventh WC ton.

In comparison to Tendulkar’s 44 innings, Rohit has achieved the mark in only 19 innings and three World Cup campaigns.
The five sixes Rohit hit in Delhi took him to 556 sixes across three formats of international cricket, passing Chris Gayle, the previous record-holder in the category with 553 maximums.

Rohit passed the West Indies opener in roughly 80 fewer innings (472) across the three formats.

-More CWC and ODI records broken at India 2023

*Australia
-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

*Bangladesh
– Most Men’s CWC wickets by any left-arm spinner in the tournament: Shakib Al Hasan (38 scalps)

*England
– First time in ODI history where all 11 batters registered double-digit scores: England v New Zealand, match 1
– 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)

*India
– Most runs ever in successful ODI run chases: Virat Kohli overtakes Sachin Tendulkar
– Fastest century by India batter at a Men’s CWC: Rohit Sharma (63 balls)
– Most centuries while chasing totals in Men’s CWCs: Rohit Sharma (3)

*Pakistan
– Joint fastest player to reach 3000 ODI runs: Imam-ul-Haq (67 innings)

*South Africa
– 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

*Sri Lanka
– Most runs scored in a match: South Africa v Sri Lanka: 754
– Fastest Sri Lanka hundred at a CWC (65 balls): Kusal Mendis. (ANI)