6 most destructive hundreds in World Cup history

A World cup century is every player's dream since it is scored on the biggest international stage in high voltage situations. A century in the World Cup glorifies any player's career regardless of whether it ends up in a winning or a losing cause.

The innings which are permanently stuck in our minds are the hard-fought ones. We take a look at some of the most obliterating innings which took the game away from the opposition completely.

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6. Kevin O'Brien 113 (63) vs England, 2011 Cricket World Cup

One of the biggest upsets in the World Cup history was pulled off on March 2, 2011, by Ireland against England at Bengaluru. Ireland pulled off a heist by riding on Kevin O'Brien's century which is the fastest century in the World Cup history till date. England, after electing to bat got propelled to a score of 328, courtesy of half-centuries from Trott, Pietersen, and Bell.

Ireland had a decent but a slow start, however, half their side were down for a little more than 100 runs. From there on, it was the O'Brien show. Kevin O'Brien brought his century off just 50 balls, surpassing Matthew Hayden's record of 67 balls in World Cup 2007.

He shared a match-winning partnership of 162 with Alex Cusack which is the highest partnership for the 6th wicket in World Cup history. O'Brien was run-out with Irelan needing just three runs to win from the final over. John Mooney and Trent Johnston held their nerve and finished things off with five balls to spare to stun the English cricket team.

In this process, Ireland also gunned down the highest successful run chase in World Cup history. Undoubtedly, this was one of the most startling and swashbuckling innings that we had witnessed in a World Cup match.

5. Ricky Ponting 140 (121) vs India, 2003 Cricket World Cup Final

Ricky Ponting

Ricky Ponting had been at the heart of Australia's dominating reign stretching from the late 1990s to early 2000s. He has also been the best batsman for Australia, racking up more than 13000 runs in both limited overs and the longer format.

Ponting was in the form of his life during the 2003 World Cup when he decimated India's bowling attack. India had gone head to head against Australia in the group match and got blown away.

India and Australia, this time went one on one in the final with India hoping for a turnaround. Australia had got the perfect start with Adam Gilchrist scoring a fifty and Matthew Hayden scoring 37. At almost the halfway mark, Australia were on course for a huge total with the openers back in the pavilion.

Ricky Ponting had initially started off slowly, however, accelerated in a manner from where there was no looking back. Javagal Srinath and Zaheer Khan collectively went for a behemoth 174 runs in 17 overs. Ponting had collected 18 runs off the last over of Srinath's bowling to give India a target of 359. Ricky Ponting, along with Damien Martyn put on an unbeaten partnership of 234.

Sachin Tendulkar, who was in sublime form throughout the tournament was bounced out by Glenn McGrath in the first over. In spite of this, India were marginally at par with the required run rate. After Virender Sehwag's run out, India's chances were all but faded away. India were eventually bowled out for 234 in under 40 overs to give Australia their second consecutive World Cup. Australia had become the second team after West Indies to win two World Cups consecutively.

4. Adam Gilchrist 149 (104) vs Sri Lanka, 2007 Cricket World Cup final

Adam Gilchrist

On April 28th, 2007, Australia completed the first World Cup hat-trick by beating Sri Lanka at Bridgetown, Barbados. This was Australia's fourth World Cup title and the most dominant that they ever had.

Australia were undefeated throughout the tournament and with this win, their undefeated streak in World Cup matches was stretched to 29. Adam Gilchrist was the man of the match for his powerful innings of 149 off 104 which remains the highest the highest individual score in a World Cup final till date. Gilchrist's innings included thirteen fours and eight maximums.

Australia, electing to bat first had a first wicket partnership of 192. Gilchrist had a lot of great starts throughout the tournament, however, a huge score had eluded him. He chose the perfect day to come to the party and make history.

Matthew Hayden, who was in scintillating form all the way, was a mere spectator to his opening partner's pyrotechnics. Gilchrist alone had stolen the show along with significant contributions from Ponting and Hayden in a rain-hit affair. The match had been reduced to 38 overs for both the teams with Australia piling up 281.

By the time Sri Lanka came out to bat, the final was cut down to a 36 over affair with the target reduced to 269. Sanath Jayasuriya and Kumar Sangakkara kept Sri Lanka pretty much in the game after the early loss of Upul Tharanga.

Sangakkara holed one to deep mid-wicket to the skipper Ponting to bring an end to a threatening partnership. Clarke's off-spin soon after bounced out Jayasuriya when he came skipping down the pitch only to be clean bowled. From there on, Sri Lankan batsmen kept crumbling. It was black dark at the Kensington Oval, Barbados however, it was Australia's moment to celebrate their most commanding World Cup campaign.

3. Kapil Dev 175 (138) vs Zimbabwe, 1983 Cricket World Cup

Kapil Dev

Perhaps the greatest comeback in the World Cup history, Kapil Dev orchestrated a terrific turnaround in what could've ended as a disaster for India otherwise. Facing Zimbabwe in a group game, the top five batsmen fell for single digits. The scorecard read as 17-5. Roger Binny joined Kapil Dev in order to save face and did a decent job while Kapil Dev hit back. The short boundaries at Tunbridge Wells were working tremendously well for the all-rounder.

Roger Binny departed after a 60-run partnership. Kapil Dev now shared another gritty partnership with Madan Lal and later with Syed Kirmani. At the end of the innings, Kapil Dev had turned into a one-man wrecking crew, amassing 175 off 138 deliveries because of considerable power-hitting which included 16 fours and six maximums.

Three determinating partnerships took India to a respectable 266 runs for the loss of eight wickets. The rest of the seven batsmen could contribute only 79 runs with 12 extras for a good measure.

In reply, Kevin Curran and Robin Brown were the only batsmen to score a substantial amount of runs. The rest of the batsmen succumbed against the pace of Roger Binny and Madan Lal with the former taking two and the latter taking three wickets. India won the match by 31 runs with Kapil Dev being adjudged the man of the match for his blazing century.

2. Sourav Ganguly 183 (158) vs Sri Lanka, 1999 Cricket World Cup

Sourav Ganguly

Sourav Ganguly is one of the best One-day players to have ever played and automatically makes it to any playing eleven. Ganguly has amassed over 11000 runs with an average of little over 40 in 311 One-day cricket. His career-best 183 came against the then defending champions Sri-Lanka at Taunton.

The early wicket of Ramesh came as a blessing for the Indian side Sourav Ganguly, along with the no. 3 batsman Rahul Dravid built a partnership of 318 for the 2nd wicket which remained the highest in the World Cup until the 2015 World Cup.

Ganguly's innings of 183 came off just 158 balls which included 17 fours and seven sixes. Ganguly's 183 and Dravid's 145 lead India to a mammoth total of 373 for the loss of six wickets. No other batsman could chip in with a substantial contribution however, the heroics from Ganguly and Dravid proved too much for Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka were practically never in the chase with Arvinda de Silva top scoring with 56. Sri Lanka were ultimately bundled out for 216, succumbing to a heavy defeat by a whopping margin of 157 runs. Ganguly's crackling innings earned him the man of the match award and will remain one of the greatest innings in World Cup cricket.

1. Martin Guptill 237 (163) vs West Indies, 2015 Cricket World Cup

Martin Guptill

Martin Guptill scored a thunderous double hundred against West Indies in the fourth quarter-final of the World Cup 2015 at Wellington. This was then the sixth double century in One-day cricket and the 2nd in the World Cup history. Guptill's strikes were clean and enormous and paid West Indies for dropping him on 4. From 100 off 111, he ended with 237 off 163 and the last 52 balls fetched him 137 runs. Guptill'slso the second highest individual score in One-day cricket, only behind Rohit Sharma's 264 scored in November 2014. Guptill's double hundred, Williamson's and Taylor's contributions and the late rally by Grant Elliot lead them to a massive score of 393.

West Indies, led by Gayle, were on a roll, however, wickets falling in regular intervals dented their progress considerably. One of the highlights of West Indies batting innings was how Daniel Vettori pouched a one-handed stunner to dismiss the dangerous Marlon Samuels.

Gayle inside edged one on to the stumps off Adam Milne to bring an end to a valiant effort. In spite of wickets being crumbling, West Indies kept the runs coming at a quick pace. After a fair bit of resistance from the skipper Jason Holder, Jonathan Carter and Andre Russell New Zealand completed a crushing victory by 143 runs.

With this win, New Zealand progressed to the semi-final where they clinched a nail-biting victory against South Africa only to lose to the eventual champions Australia in the final.