ICC World Cup 2015: Australia v Sri Lanka - Stats of the match

Powered by a 53-ball 102 from all-rounder Glenn Maxwell and half-centuries from Steven Smith, Michael Clarke and Shane Watson, Australia posted 376 runs on the board after opting to bat first in a Pool A World Cup match against Sri Lanka at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) today and then restricted the opposition batsmen to 312 to win the match by 64 runs. Here are the most important numbers from the match:

#1 3 consecutive centuries for the first time in World Cup

Sri Lankan batsman Kumar Sangakkara followed up his 105* and 117* against Bangladesh and England respectively with a 107-ball 104 against Australia today, thereby becoming the first batsman ever in the history of ODI World Cup to score 3 consecutive centuries. The 37-year-old left-hander started off the tournament slowly, though, managing only 39 and 7 against New Zealand and Afghanistan respectively.

When you consider ODIs in general, only 6 other players have scored 3 consecutive centuries so far: Zaheer Abbas, Saeed Anwar, Herschelle Gibbs, Ross Taylor, AB de Villiers and Quinton de Kock.

#2 Most centuries in a World Cup

Thanks to flat decks and recent rule changes in support of batsmen, 25 centuries have already been scored in the ongoing edition of the World Cup: most in the history of the tournament. There are still 17 more matches to go.

The next highest is 24, which was recorded in the 2011 edition held in the Indian subcontinent.

World Cup edition	Centuries
1975	6
1979	2
1983	8
1987	11
1992	8
1996	16
1999	11
2003	21
2007	20
2011	24
2015*	25*

#3 14,000 ODI runs

Kumar Sangakkara crossed the 14,000-run mark in ODIs today – he has now scored 14,065 runs at an average of 41.72 and a strike-rate of 78.76 in 402 matches. The southpaw sits at the second spot in the list of leading run-scorers in ODI cricket; Indian cricketing legend Sachin Tendulkar, with 18,426 runs in 463 matches, occupies the first spot.

Only 3 of the top 15 leading run-scorers in ODIs are active at the moment and all of them are Sri Lankans: Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene (at 5th spot with 12,644 runs in 446 matches), and Tillakaratne Dilshan (at 12th spot 9,692 runs in 312 matches)

Jayawardene, on the other hand, became the most capped Sri Lankan ODI player, going past Sanath Jayasuriya who has 445 caps in the format.

#4 6 boundaries in one over

Tillakaratne Dilshan, en route to his 60-ball 62, hit 6 boundaries off the 6th over of the Sri Lankan innings, bowled by Australian fast bowler Mitchell Johnson. He has become only the fourth player in the history of ODI World Cup to do so. David Millier, Herschelle Gibbs and Darren Lehmann are the three players who have done it before in a World Cup match.

#5 Most runs conceded by Sri Lanka in a World Cup match

Put into field first, Sri Lankan bowlers conceded 376 runs in the first innings. Glenn Maxwell and Shane Watson went berserk in the last 20 overs scoring a 53-ball 102 and 41-ball 67 coming in at No.5 and No.6 respectively. Australia were off to a slow start after the fall of both their openers David Warner and Aaron Finch, but Steven Smith and Michael Clarke scored half-centuries to set up the stage for the big hitters to follow.

The Islanders had previously conceded 373 runs to India at Taunton in 1999, which has now been pushed to second spot.

#6 2nd fastest World Cup century

Glenn Maxwell registered the second-fastest century in the history of ODI World Cup: he achieved the feat in 51 balls, only one ball behind Ireland all-rounder Kevin O’Brien’s historic century against England at Bangalore, India, in 2011.

South African captain AB de Villiers’ 52-ball century against West Indies at the SCG, also scored in this edition, has now been pushed to third spot. Maxwell’s feat today is an Australian record for the fastest century in ODIs. The previous best was by James Faulkner: in 57 balls against India in 2013.

#7 First 300+ score against Australia in a World Cup match

This is the first time a team has scored 300 runs in a World Cup match against Australia in the history of the game. Sri Lanka, riding on a 130-run partnership between Tillakaratne Dilshan and Kumar Sangakkara, looked well on course to take the game till the 50^th over, but late wickets derailed their chase and brought a premature end to their effort. Eventually, they were bowled out for 312 in 46.2 overs.