Cricket World Cup History: Stats and records from the 2007 edition

The ninth edition of the Cricket World Cup was played from 14th March to 28th April in the West Indies. The 2007 ICC World Cup featured 16 teams, with Bermuda and Ireland making their first World Cup appearance.

51 matches were played in the 2007 World Cup, where there were four groups of four teams each. After the group stage fixtures, the top two teams from each group advanced to the Super-8, and the top four from the Super-8 qualified for the semi-finals.

New Zealand and Sri Lanka battled it out in the first semi-final at Kingston where the Asian outfit emerged victorious by 81 runs. Sri Lankan skipper Mahela Jayawardene played a tremendous knock, scoring 115 runs off 109 balls; that along with Upul Tharanga’s useful contribution of 73 took Sri Lanka to 289/5. In reply, New Zealand were bowled out for 208 runs with Muttiah Muralitharan bowling an excellent spell of spin bowling to finish with 4/31.

Australia took on South Africa in the second semi-final which turned out to be a one-sided affair as the Proteas were bundled out for 149 runs in first innings courtesy Shaun Tait (4/39) and Glenn McGrath’s (3/18) amazing performances. Michael Clarke remained unbeaten at 60 to take Australia to their sixth World Cup final.

The final of the 2007 World Cup was played between Sri Lanka and Australia on 28th April 2007, at Kensington Oval. Batting first, Australia posted 281 runs on the board in 38 overs in a rain hindered match. Adam Gilchrist played a swashbuckling knock, scoring 149 off just 104 deliveries.

Sri Lanka succumbed under the pressure while chasing the revised target of 269 from 36 overs and could only manage to score 215/8. The dominance of the Australian team was evident as they lifted their third consecutive World Cup.

Matthew Hayden finished as the tournament's leading run-scorer with 659 runs. He had three centuries and a half-century to his name in his 10 innings at the event.

Glenn McGrath emerged as the leading wicket-taker of the tournament with his tally of 26 wickets in 11 matches, just before hanging his boots from international cricket.

2007 World Cup Records

Batting Stats

Most Runs: Matthew Hayden (AUS) – 659 Runs

Highest Score: Imran Nazir (PAK) – 160 vs Zimbabwe

Most Centuries: Matthew Hayden (AUS) –3

Most Fifties: Kevin Pietersen (ENG) – 5

Highest Average: Michael Clarke (AUS) – 87.20

Highest Strike-Rate: Shane Watson (AUS) – 170.58

Most Sixes: Matthew Hayden (AUS) - 18

Bowling Stats

Most Wickets: Glenn McGrath (AUS) – 26

Best Bowling Figures: Andrew Hall (SA) - 10-2-18-5

Best Average: Glenn McGrath (AUS) – 13.73

Best Economy Rate: Shane Bond (NZ) – 3.05

Most 5-wicket Hauls: Andre Nel (SA), Andrew Hall (SA) and Charl Langeveldt (SA) – 1

Fielding Stats

Most Catches: Paul Collingwood (ENG) – 8

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