10 most embarassing World Cup records

Ever since its inception in 1975, the World Cup has seen some splendid matches, wonderful teams and records being smashed all over the place. But while there are some records you can be proud of, there are others you wish you didn’t have to your name.This is a list of the most embarassing records in the history of the World Cup. So if you are looking for most runs, wickets or proud achievements, then you can look away; this is a list of records which no team wants to be a part of. What are they? Read on.

#1 South Africas record in knockout games

Although they only started playing in the World Cup in 1992, there is a case to be made for South Africa having a good enough team to have won or at least challenged for every World Cup since. And yet, their victory over Sri Lanka in the quarterfinals of the 2015 edition is their first ever win in the knockout stages of the World Cup.

While they had made it to the semifinals on three occasions and quarterfinals twice before this, they had lost all of those games. A combination of bad luck, poor performances and an inability to get going when the going gets tough, had resulted in their demise in the knockout rounds.

#2 Sunil Gavaskar\'s slowness

Up until the arrival of Sachin Tendulkar, Gavaskar was arguably the best batsman India had ever produced. But he makes his way into this list thanks to a curious innings against England in the very first World Cup match.

England kicked off the World Cup in sublime style as they scored the highest ODI total at the time. Chasing 335, India had to go all guns blazing. But Gavaskar's innings was one that prompted India's manager GS Ramchand to describe it as "the most disgraceful and selfish performance I have ever seen."

His innings of 36 off 174 consisted of a single boundary and went down as the slowest innings in the history of the World Cup. Although he went on to win the World Cup in 1983, this innings took the gloss away from the first World Cup match and tarnished his otherwise glorious reputation.

#3 Most runs conceded by a bowler in a single innings

Although Jason Holder conceded 104 runs in the game against South Africa at Sydney almost three weeks ago, that is not the most expensive spell ever in World Cup history. In fact, that record belongs to New Zealand's Martin Snedden. In the first game of the 1983 World Cup, Snedden conceded 105 runs off his 12 overs to finish with figures of 12-1-105-2.

Even though he picked up the crucial wickets of Allan Lamb and Mike Gatting, it wasn't enough as, unsurprisingly, his side lost to England. Although he scored 21 runs with the bat, the right arm fast bowler from Auckland etched his name into World Cup folklore for all the wrong reasons with his bowling performance that day.

#4 Most extras conceded in an innings

If there is one thing that no coach likes to see, it is his bowlers bowling extras. While bad balls and good shots are understandable, there is little excuse for overstepping your mark or bowling a wide, when you have practised so hard.

Back in the 1999 edition of the tournament, Moin Khan and Mohammed Yousuf helped Pakistan to 261 against Scotland. But the Scottish bowlers certainly didn't help their cause as they bowled a total of 59 extras in the innings. With 5 byes, 6 leg byes, 33 wides and 15 no balls, Scotland ensured that instead of chasing a target around 200, they would be chasing over 260.

Asim Butt and Gavin bowled 8 wides each while John Blain bowled a staggering 6 no-balls, thereby ensuring Scotland's place in World Cup record books for conceding the most extras in an innings.

#5 Lowest team score

The 2003 World Cup was a memorable tournament for a variety of reasons. But it was a mixed bag for Canada, who were playing in only their second ever World Cup. After starting off with a win over Bangladesh, spirits were high in the Canadian camp, but then things took a turn for the worse.

After Sri Lanka won the toss and chose to field, Canada collapsed right at the start. From 11/2, it became 12/6 and they were on their way to the lowest total in the history of ODIs. There was just a single double-digit partnership and there was no way back from there as Sri Lanka cruised to the total in under five overs.

And with that, Canada entered into the annals of ODI history, for all the wrong reasons.

#6 Most ducks

The record for the most ducks in the history of the World Cup is jointly held by New Zealand's Nathan Astle and Pakistan's Ijaz Ahmed. Although both players have scored over 6,500 ODI runs and average over 30, they have been out for a duck five times in the World Cup. In Astle's case, it was in 22 innings, while Ahmed's came in 26 innings.

Given Astle's status as New Zealand's second-most prolific run scorer in ODIs, his position on this list is slightly surprising. But one look at the top five players on the list will tell you that AB de Villiers and Eoin Morgan are joint-second, with four ducks, and so the duo might not hold this record for too much longer.

#7 Most consecutive ducks

If there is one thing that no batsman likes, it is getting out without troubling the scorers. Not only does it embarass the player, but the team too is put under enormous pressure. And while you can be unlucky once or twice, to be out for a duck three times in consecutive games is something beyond sheer bad luck.

Canada's Nicholas De Groot and Kenya's Shem Ngoche hold the dubious honour of most consecutive ducks in World Cups, with three each. De Groot's three-game run of ducks came in the 2003 edition when he was dismissed without a run against Bangladesh, Kenya and Sri Lanka. Ngoche equaled the Canadian batsman's record when got out for zero in three consecutive matches against New Zealand, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

#8 Most losses

Ever since their first appearance in the 1983 World Cup, Zimbabwe have never really had a side good enough to go very far in the tournament. Although they have appeared in every World Cup since 1983, apart from 1999 and 2003 they have never gone past the group stages.

So it is perhaps unsurprising that the team with the most losses is, in fact, Zimbabwe. Of their 58 matches in cricket's premier tournament, they have lost 42, which is eight more than the side in second place, which is Sri Lanka with 34. Unless Sri Lanka go downhill after the retirement of Dilshan, Sangakkara and Jayawardene and the ICC scraps its plans for a 10-team tournament, it looks as though this record is destined to stay with the African side for a very long time.

#9 Most consecutive losses

Fairy tales in sport are rare. But when Zimbabwe beat Australia in Nottingham by 13 runs in their first World Cup game in 1983, it was celebrated with such passion, that you would have thought they had won the trophy. Unfortunately for the African side, their happiness was short-lived as they had to wait for another nine years to win their next World Cup game.

They had an opportunity to beat India in the same tournament, but Kapil Dev's heroics put an end to that. Their run finally came to an end after 18 games, when they beat England by nine runs in their last game of the 1992 World Cup.

Can anyone beat Zimbabwe's record and take their names off the record books? Netherlands came close with 16 in 2011, but with ICC's 10-game World Cup plan, it certainly looks unlikely.

#10 Lowest run rate

The advent of T20 has seen ODI run rates skyrocket like never before. But in the first few World Cups, anything over 4 runs per over was still considered a very good scoring rate. Playing in only their second World Cup game in 1979, Canada managed to make their way into the record books after finishing their innings with a run rate of 1.11

Having won the toss, the Canadians didn't have the greatest start to their innings. But Franklyn Dennis seemed determined to beat Sunil Gavaskar's record of slowest ODI innings. Unfortunately for Canada, they didn't have anyone who could stay at the other end as England bundled them out for a paltry 45 in 40.3 overs.

Although Dennis didn't get the record as his strike rate of 21 was slightly higher than Gavaskar’s, Canada did get the unwanted record of becoming the team with the lowest run-rate in the history of the World Cup.