Rare records achieved during the 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup

The Australian team pose with the World Cup trophy

• Aaron Finch of Australia became the first Australian to score a century again England in the World Cup.
• After 10 years, South Africa lost 4 wickets before they put 100 runs on the board against Zimbabwe when they crumbled to 83/4 in the 3rd match of the World Cup at Seddon Park, Hamilton. They also achieved a rare low against their neighbours, when they scored only 28 in their first 10 overs. It was their lowest since 2001 while batting first.
• After 36 years and 8 World Cups for the first time, 3 or maidens were bowled in a World Cup match by Ravichandran Ashwin of India against arch-rivals Pakistan in the 4th match of the World Cup. Previously it was bowled by another Indian, S Venkatraghavan, in the 1979 World Cup.
• Saxton Oval, Nelson was the youngest venue to host a World Cup match when it hosted the West Indies versus Ireland tie. Prior to it, it had hosted only 3 ODIs, of which 2 involved the team from the Carribean.
• For the first time in a World Cup match 4 Golden Ducks were registered during the Scotland innings against New Zealand in the 6th match of the World Cup at Dunedin. This has happened only twice before in all ODIs put together.
• UAE played a World Cup after 19 years, which is the second longest gap between World Cups. They appeared last in the 1996 edition. The highest gap is held by Canada (24 years).
• Brendon McCullum of New Zealand scored the fastest 50 in a World Cup, when he crossed the half-century in 18 balls against England at Wellington in the 9th match of the World Cup.
• Darren Bravo became the 2nd West Indian to retire hurt and not return to bat in a World Cup game against Pakistan after his uncle Brian Lara. Interestingly, Brian Lara too did the same against Pakistan in the World Cup that was held Down Under in 1992.
• Pakistan achieved a dubious record of having the lowest score to lose 4 wickets in an ODI match when they lost 4 wickets for just a single run during their humiliating defeat against the West Indies at Christchurch. The previous low was 4/4 by Canada against Zimbabwe in 2006.
• It was the first time that both openers were dismissed for a Golden Duck in a World Cup match when both Lahiru Thirimanne and Tillakaratne Dilshan of Sri Lanka were dismissed by Afghanistan at Dunedin. It was also the first time Afghanistan have claimed a wicket in the very first ball in an ODI game while dismissing Lahiru Thirimanne.
• Chris Gayle of West Indies became the first batsman to score a double hundred in a World Cup match when he scored 215 against Zimbabwe. He also became the first non-Indian to achieve the 200-run mark in an ODI.
• Tillakaratne Dilshan of Sri Lanka became the oldest cricketer at 38 years and 135 days to score a 150+ score in an ODI. The previous oldest was held by another Sri Lankan, Sanath Jayasuriya (37 years and 4 days) when he scored 157 against Netherland in 2006.
• Tillakaratne Dilshan’s 161* against Bangladesh at Melbourne is the highest score in ODIs without a six.
• AB de Villiers of South Africa scored the fastest 150 in the history of ODIs, when he crossed the landmark in just 64 balls against West Indies at Sydney.
• The 76 runs scored by AB de Villiers off Jason Holder at Sydney, is the most by a batsman to score off a single bowler in an ODI.
• The 8 wickets that Australia lost from 80 for 1 to 106 for 9 against New Zealand at Auckland, in just 26 runs, is their worst eight-wicket collapse in ODIs.
• The defeat for Australia in the thriller against New Zealand at Auckland is their biggest in terms of balls remaining (161 balls) and the second biggest overall in all ODIs. Their biggest defeat was against Sri Lanka at Brisbane in 2013 by 180 balls remaining.
• Sri Lanka became the first team to win by 9 wickets while chasing a target of 300+ in the World Cup when they defeated England in the 22nd match of the World Cup at Wellington. Overall in all ODIs, this is the second instance a team won by 9 wickets chasing such a target. The first one was when India defeated Australia chasing 362 at Jaipur in 2013.
• Shahid Afridi became the third Pakistani to get out for a duck on his birthday in ODIs when it happened on March 1st against Zimbabwe at Brisbane. This was also his first duck in the World Cups in his 21 innings.
• Hashim Amla of South Africa became the fastest to reach 20 ODI hundreds when he scored 159 against Ireland in the 24th match of the World Cup. He reached his 20th ODI hundred in 108 innings, 25 less than the second-best, Virat Kohli of India.

Kumar Sangakkara

• South Africa equalled India’s record of most 400+ scores in ODIs when they scored 411 against Ireland at Canberra. They have 5 scores over 400 now along with India. Their last 3 came in a span of just 44 days.
• Ahmed Shehzad became the 2nd Pakistani to get out in the 90s in a World Cup match when he got out for 93 against UAE at Napier in the 25th match. Zaheer Abbas is the other Pakistani who has gotten out for 97 (1975) and 93 (1979).
• Australia’s 417 against Afghanistan is the highest score in the World Cup which eclipses India’s 413 against Bermuda in the 2007 World Cup.
• Australia’s 275 run win against Afghanistan at WACA, Perth in the 26th match of the World Cup is the biggest in World Cups in terms of runs and second biggest in ODIs. The biggest win in ODIs is by 290 runs. New Zealand won by that difference against Ireland in 2008 at Aberdeen.
• Kyle Coetzer’s 156 is the highest score by an Associate team player when he scored it against Bangladesh for Scotland. This is also the highest score in a losing cause in the World Cup. The previous highest was 143 by Herschelle Gibbs of South Africa against New Zealand at Johannesburg in 2003.
• Kumar Sangakkara of Sri Lanka became the first player to register 3+ consecutive hundreds in the World Cup. He achieved this when he scored 104 against Australia at Sydney. He is the 4th batsman to register 3 or more centuries in the same World Cup.
• Mushfiqur Rahim and Mahmudullah scored the highest partnership for Bangladesh in the World Cup when they scored 141 for the 5th wicket against England at Adelaide on 9th March.
• Mahmudullah became the first Bangaldeshi to score a century in the World Cup when he scored 103 against England.
• Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma recorded the highest opening partnership for India in the World Cups when they scored 174 runs against Ireland at Hamilton eclipsing the previous best of 163 between Ajay Jadeja and Sachin Tendulkar against Kenya at Cuttack in the 1996 edition. This is the highest opening partnership in this edition of the World Cup too.
• Kumar Sangakkara of Sri Lanka became the first to score 4 consecutive ODI hundreds when he scored 124 against Scotland at Hobart in the 35th match of the World Cup. Herschelle Gibbs of South Africa missed this feat by a whisker in 2002 (116, 116*, 153, 97*). Sangakkara also became the first batsman to reach 3 World Cup 100s in less than 90 balls. His centuries came in 70, 73 and 86 balls.
• AB de Villiers of South Africa became the 3rd batsman to be dismissed for a score of 99 in the World Cup when he was dismissed thus against the UAE at Wellington. Adam Gilchrist and JP Duminy are the other two who share this feat.
• South Africa’s 341/6 against UAE at Wellington became the highest total in World Cups without a century. The previous best was against the UAE 8 days back by Pakistan at Napier (339/6).
• 288/4 became India’s highest 2nd Innings total in the World Cup when they successfully chased it against Zimbabwe at Auckland. The previous best was 277/4 against Sri Lanka in the finals of the 2011 World Cup.
• There have been only 2 100+ stands for the 7th wicket in the World Cup. Both have been 107 runs by UAE pairs.
• JP Duminy of South Africa became the 2nd spinner after Saqlain Mushtaq of Pakistan to claim a hat-trick in the World Cup on 18th March at Sydney against Sri Lanka in the 1st quarter-final match.
• Tharindu Kaushal of Sri Lanka became the 2nd Cricketer after Wayne Larkins of England (1979 semi-finals) to make an ODI debut in a World Cup knockout match.
• Rohit Sharma became the 2nd Indian to score a 100 in a knockout game in the World Cup after former India captain Sourav Ganguly.
• India is the first side to dismiss opponents on 7 or more occasions in World Cup matches. The previous best record was held by South Africa (6 times in 2011).
• Martin Guptill of New Zealand became the second batsman to score a double hundred in a World Cup match when he scored 237* against West Indies in the quarter-final game at Wellington. His score is the highest in the World Cup and in a knockout game. He also became the second batsman after Sachin Tendulkar of India to remain not out after scoring 200.
• West Indies became the first ODI team to concede two double hundreds when Martin Guptill scored his 237* against them. The previous one was Virender Sehwag’s 219.
• West Indies' run rate of 8.19 is the highest by a team dismissed in ODI history during their loss against New Zealand in the quarter-final game at Wellington.
• New Zealand’s chase of 299 against South Africa in the first semi-finals of the World Cup is the highest successful chase in a World Cup knockout match. By winning the game, New Zealand entered their first ever Finals of the World Cup after 39 years 9 months and 18 days and 6 Semi – final losses.
• Steve Smith of Australia became the first batsman to score 5 consecutive 50+ scores in the history of World Cup when he scored a final winning 56 against New Zealand at the MCG on 29th March 2015 in the Finals of the World Cup.