3 international records that are surprisingly held by low-ranked teams' players
Cricket is a relatively closed game, with the ICC having only 12 nations as full members. Though cricket is considered the second most popular sport in the world after football, the ICC has not been eager to spread it too far or wide, as evident by the number of teams that are slated to play the upcoming World Cup 2019.
Teams like Netherlands, Ireland and Zimbabwe will not be seen participating in the marquee tournament starting from May 30 in England and Wales. These teams have featured in World Cup cricket on previous occasions but failed to make it to the prestigious competition this time, as the ICC restricted the mega-tournament to just 10 teams.
But these teams have been causing upsets against the major teams on a regular basis, giving ample testimony of their abilities. In fact, there are a few records in international cricket that are held by players of these low-ranked teams.
Let's have a look at three such major records:
#1 Kevin O Brien: The fastest century in World Cup
So far the mega tournament has been played 11 times. A lot of cricketing giants have featured in the tournament, but none has scored a century faster than the Irish batsman Kevin O'Brien, who broke the record in the World Cup 2011 when he smashed a 50-ball hundred against England at Bangaluru.
In that match, O'Brien helped Ireland chase down an improbable target of 327 runs, as he scored 113 off 63 balls with 13 fours and 6 sixes. Previously, the record for the fastest century in World Cup was held by the Australian opener Matthew Hayden, who scored a 66-ball hundred against South Africa in the World Cup 2007.
The milestone of the first Test century by an Irish batsman also goes to Kevin O'Brien, who scored a century against Pakistan in the debut Test match for Ireland.