The Cricket World Cup in 100s
Anticipation is growing as this summer’s tournament gets ever closer.
To mark the occasion, we look at the World Cup in 100s.
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.
11 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.
Amiss hit 137 against India at Lord’s, while Turner scored 171* against East Africa at Edgbaston.
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.
Kevin O’Brien hits a 50-ball century – the fastest in World Cup history – as Ireland shock England.
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.