Recap: 2007 Cricket World Cup

The two-time champions West Indies hosted the 2007 World Cup. The number of teams was increased to 16 from the 14 in the previous edition as Bermuda & Ireland made their World Cup debut.

The format also underwent a change, instead of the usual two groups, the teams were divided into 4 groups of 4 teams each. The top two teams from each group qualified for the Super Eight stage. The groups were as follows:

Group A - Australia, South Africa, Netherlands & Scotland. Australia & South Africa qualified for the Super Eight Stage.

Group B - India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh & Bermuda. Sri Lanka & Bangladesh qualified for the Super Eight stage.

Group C - New Zealand, England, Kenya & Canada. New Zealand & England qualified for the Super Eight stage.

Group D - West Indies, Pakistan, Zimbabwe & Ireland. West Indies & Ireland qualified for the Super Eight stage.

The Super Eight stage saw Australia, Sri Lanka, New Zealand & South Africa qualify for the semi-finals.

In the semi-finals, Sri Lanka defeated New Zealand by 81 runs & Australia defeat South Africa by 7 wickets to make it to the final.

The final was a repeat of the 1996 World Cup final with Australia taking on Sri Lanka. But this time the result was reversed as Australia defeated Sri Lanka by 53 runs to win their fourth World Cup trophy.

Australia also became the first team in the history of the tournament to win three consecutive World Cups. Adam Gilchrist (149) became the fifth player to score a century in the final of the World Cup. Also, this was the highest individual score by a player in the final of a World Cup. Glenn McGrath was named as the Player of the Tournament.

Some of the key performances from the tournament are mentioned below:

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Batting performances:

413/5 by India against Bermuda was the highest team total in the 2007 World Cup.

659 runs scored by Matthew Hayden of Australia were the most number of runs scored by a player in the 2007 World Cup.

160 scored by Imran Nazir of Pakistan against Zimbabwe was the highest individual score by a player in the tournament.

20 centuries were scored in the tournament.

3 centuries scored by Matthew Hayden of Australia were the most number of centuries scored by a player in the 2007 World Cup.

5 half-centuries scored by Graeme Smith of South Africa were the most number of half-centuries scored by a player in the 2007 World Cup.

Bowling performances:

26 wickets taken by Glenn McGrath of Australia were the most number of wickets taken by a player in the 2007 World Cup.

5/18 by Andrew Hall of South Africa against England was the best bowling performance by a player in the 2007 Cricket World Cup.

3 five-wicket hauls were taken in the 2007 World Cup. All of these five wicket-hauls were taken by South African players - Andrew Hall (5/18), Charl Langeveldt (5/39) & Andre Nel (5/45).

Wicketkeeping performances:

17 dismissals by Adam Gilchrist of Australia were the most number of dismissals by a wicket-keeper in the 2007 World Cup.

4 dismissals by Kamran Akmal of Pakistan against West Indies, Brendan Taylor of Zimbabwe against Ireland, Denesh Ramdin of West Indies against Ireland, Adam Gilchrist of Australia against South Africa and Brendon McCullum of New Zealand against England & West Indies were the most dismissals by a wicket-keeper in an innings in the 2007 World Cup.

Fielding performances:

8 catches taken by Graeme Smith of South Africa & Paul Collingwood of England were the most number of catches taken by a player in the 2007 World Cup.

3 catches taken by Steve Tikolo of Kenya against New Zealand, Inzamam-ul-Haq of Pakistan against Zimbabwe, Eoin Morgan of Ireland against New Zealand & Chamara Silva of Sri Lanka against New Zealand were the most number of catches taken by a player in a single match at the 2007 World Cup.