DHAKA, Feb 19, 2019 (BSS)- There are just 100 days until the ICC Men’s
Cricket World Cup 2019 gets underway. Anticipation is growing as this
summer’s tournament gets ever closer. To mark the occasion, we look at the
World Cup in 100s, source ICC.
165 and counting
In total, 165 centuries have been hit since the first Men’s World Cup in
1975. 103 men have the honour of being able to say they are centurions at the
ICC Cricket World Cup.
The century king
The Little Master, Sachin Tendulkar, has more centuries at the World Cup
than any other player – six.
He’s closely followed by three-time winner Ricky Ponting and Sri Lankan
legend Kumar Sangakkara, who have five apiece.
Five men have registered four 100s at the World Cup, they are – AB de
Villiers, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Sourav Ganguly, Mahela Jayawardene and Mark
Waugh.
2015 – the century fest!
The most recent ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup in 2015 saw more centuries hit
than at any previous edition of the tournament. The 100 mark was passed on 38
occasions four years ago, 14 more than the previous best in 2011.
The first Men’s World Cup in 1975 saw six centuries, while the following
edition in 1979 had just two. Eight followed in 1983, 11 in 1987, eight in
1992 and 16 in 1996.
Eleven centuries were hit the last time the World Cup was held in England
and Wales in 1999, with 21 and 20 scored in 2003 and 2007 respectively.
The first century makers
The first men to score centuries at the World Cup were England’s Dennis
Amiss and New Zealand’s Glenn Turner, who both hit 100s on the opening day of
the 1975 World Cup.
Fastest 100
Ireland’s Kevin O’Brien sent records tumbling with his 50-ball century
which helped his side stun England at the 2011 World Cup. The all-rounder
struck 13 fours and six sixes in his innings of 113, crossing the 100 mark
after just 50 balls – making it the fastest World Cup century of all time.
Youngest century maker
At just 20 years and 196 days, Ireland’s Paul Stirling became the youngest
century-maker at the Men’s World Cup with his ton against Netherlands in
2011. Stirling is the only man under the age of 21 to have scored a World Cup
century.
The golden oldies
Sri Lankan legend Tillakaratne Dilshan was still scoring centuries into his
late 30s, and his ton against Bangladesh in 2015 saw him become the oldest
100 maker at the World Cup – at 38 years and 135 days.
That was, until, he hit another century 13 days later and set a new record
at 38 years and 148 days old!
Australia lead the way
Five-time winners Australia have hit more centuries at the ICC Men’s
Cricket World Cup than any other nation – 26. Just one behind them, though,
are India with 25 and Sri Lanka with 23. West Indies are next with 17, New
Zealand 15 and South Africa and Pakistan 14 apiece. ICC Men’s Cricket World
Cup 2019 hosts, England, have hit 11 centuries at the tournament.
Final 100s
There’s no bigger stage to score a century on than the Cricket World Cup
Final, and just six men can claim to have achieved that feat.
Clive Lloyd became the first in the inaugural Men’s World Cup Final in
1975, scoring 102 off 85 balls. He was joined by fellow West Indian, Sir Viv
Richards, who smashed 138* in the 1979 Final.
ICC CWC 2003; Australia (359-2) v India (234). Australia won by 125 runs
Sri Lanka’s Aravinda de Silva joined the club with 107 in 1996, as he led
the hosts to their first World Cup title.
Australia legends Ricky Ponting (140*) and Adam Gilchrist (149) hit
centuries in the 2003 and 2007 finals respectively, before Mahela Jayawardene
became the sixth and most recent member of the club with 103* off 88 balls as
he was on the losing side in the 2011 Final.
Century city
If you want to score a World Cup century, it looks like Melbourne’s the
place to bat, as seven centuries have been scored there; more than at any
other ground.
Karachi is next with six, while Lord’s and The Oval are two of six grounds
to have seen five World Cup centuries scored.