Rare records achieved during the 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup
The Australian team pose with the World Cup trophy
Aaron Finch of Australia became the first Australian to score a century again England in the World Cup.
After 10 years, South Africa lost 4 wickets before they put 100 runs on the board against Zimbabwe when they crumbled to 83/4 in the 3rd match of the World Cup at Seddon Park, Hamilton. They also achieved a rare low against their neighbours, when they scored only 28 in their first 10 overs. It was their lowest since 2001 while batting first.
After 36 years and 8 World Cups for the first time, 3 or maidens were bowled in a World Cup match by Ravichandran Ashwin of India against arch-rivals Pakistan in the 4th match of the World Cup. Previously it was bowled by another Indian, S Venkatraghavan, in the 1979 World Cup.
Saxton Oval, Nelson was the youngest venue to host a World Cup match when it hosted the West Indies versus Ireland tie. Prior to it, it had hosted only 3 ODIs, of which 2 involved the team from the Carribean.
For the first time in a World Cup match 4 Golden Ducks were registered during the Scotland innings against New Zealand in the 6th match of the World Cup at Dunedin. This has happened only twice before in all ODIs put together.
UAE played a World Cup after 19 years, which is the second longest gap between World Cups. They appeared last in the 1996 edition. The highest gap is held by Canada (24 years).
Brendon McCullum of New Zealand scored the fastest 50 in a World Cup, when he crossed the half-century in 18 balls against England at Wellington in the 9th match of the World Cup.
Darren Bravo became the 2nd West Indian to retire hurt and not return to bat in a World Cup game against Pakistan after his uncle Brian Lara. Interestingly, Brian Lara too did the same against Pakistan in the World Cup that was held Down Under in 1992.
Pakistan achieved a dubious record of having the lowest score to lose 4 wickets in an ODI match when they lost 4 wickets for just a single run during their humiliating defeat against the West Indies at Christchurch. The previous low was 4/4 by Canada against Zimbabwe in 2006.
It was the first time that both openers were dismissed for a Golden Duck in a World Cup match when both Lahiru Thirimanne and Tillakaratne Dilshan of Sri Lanka were dismissed by Afghanistan at Dunedin. It was also the first time Afghanistan have claimed a wicket in the very first ball in an ODI game while dismissing Lahiru Thirimanne.
Chris Gayle of West Indies became the first batsman to score a double hundred in a World Cup match when he scored 215 against Zimbabwe. He also became the first non-Indian to achieve the 200-run mark in an ODI.
Tillakaratne Dilshan of Sri Lanka became the oldest cricketer at 38 years and 135 days to score a 150+ score in an ODI. The previous oldest was held by another Sri Lankan, Sanath Jayasuriya (37 years and 4 days) when he scored 157 against Netherland in 2006.
Tillakaratne Dilshan’s 161* against Bangladesh at Melbourne is the highest score in ODIs without a six.
AB de Villiers of South Africa scored the fastest 150 in the history of ODIs, when he crossed the landmark in just 64 balls against West Indies at Sydney.
The 76 runs scored by AB de Villiers off Jason Holder at Sydney, is the most by a batsman to score off a single bowler in an ODI.
The 8 wickets that Australia lost from 80 for 1 to 106 for 9 against New Zealand at Auckland, in just 26 runs, is their worst eight-wicket collapse in ODIs.
The defeat for Australia in the thriller against New Zealand at Auckland is their biggest in terms of balls remaining (161 balls) and the second biggest overall in all ODIs. Their biggest defeat was against Sri Lanka at Brisbane in 2013 by 180 balls remaining.
Sri Lanka became the first team to win by 9 wickets while chasing a target of 300+ in the World Cup when they defeated England in the 22nd match of the World Cup at Wellington. Overall in all ODIs, this is the second instance a team won by 9 wickets chasing such a target. The first one was when India defeated Australia chasing 362 at Jaipur in 2013.
Shahid Afridi became the third Pakistani to get out for a duck on his birthday in ODIs when it happened on March 1st against Zimbabwe at Brisbane. This was also his first duck in the World Cups in his 21 innings.
Hashim Amla of South Africa became the fastest to reach 20 ODI hundreds when he scored 159 against Ireland in the 24th match of the World Cup. He reached his 20th ODI hundred in 108 innings, 25 less than the second-best, Virat Kohli of India.
