The ‘First’ and the ‘Most’ of the Cricket World Cup

GROUND REALITYThe 12th edition of the ICC Cricket World Cup (CWC) will be held from May 30 to July 14, 2019, in England and Wales. This is for the fifth time the Cricket World Cup is being hosted in England (1975, 1979, 1983) and for the second time it is being jointly hosted by England and Wales. The 1999 CWC was the first, which England and Wales co-hosted. Australia will be entering the 2019 CWC as the defending Champion and a five-time CWC winner. It won the CWCs of 1987 (against England), 1999 (against Pakistan), 2003 (against India), 2007 (against Sri Lanka) and 2015 (against New Zealand). Let’s look at some of the interesting statistics related to the CWCs. THE FIRSTSToss: 1st Match: CWC 1975 - England vs. India - June 7, 1975England won the first coin toss ahead of their match against India. Six:1st Match: CWC 1975 - England vs. India - June 7, 1975England’s Keith Fletcher hit the first ever six in the history of CWCs. Four1st Match: CWC 1975 - England vs. India - June 7, 1975England’s John Jameson was the first batsman to hit a boundary in CWCs.Wicket:1st Match: CWC 1975 - England vs. India - June 7, 1975Mohinder Amarnath of India dismissed England’s John Jameson to become the bowler to take the first wicket in a Cricket World Cup match and Jameson became the first batsman to lose his wicket in a CWC. Catch:1st Match: CWC 1975 - England vs. India - June 7, 1975India’s Srinivas Venkataraghavan was the first fielder to take a catch that dismissed John Jameson. Half-Century: 1st Match: CWC 1975 - England vs. India - June 7, 1975England’s Keith Fletcher scored the World Cup’s first half-century by scoring 68 off 107 deliveries. Century:1st Match: CWC 1975 - England vs. India - June 7, 1975Similarly, England’s Dennis Amiss scored 137 off 147 deliveries to complete the first century in a CWC. Bowled: 1st Match: CWC 1975 - England vs. India - June 7, 1975The first batsman to be clean bowled was Keith Fletcher while Abid Ali of India was the first the batsman to take a wicket in this manner. LBW:1st Match: CWC 1975 - England vs. India - June 7, 1975England’s Tony Greig was the first batsman to lose his wicket on an lbw (leg before wicket) while Abid Ali of India, who took Greig’s wicket, was the first bowler to capture a wicket by an lbw.Out on a Duck2nd Match: CWC 1975 - New Zealand vs. East and Central Africa June 7, 1975Harilal Shah playing for East and Central Africa became the first bowler to lose his wicket on the first ball. New Zealand’s Hedley Howarth (New Zealand) was the bowler who Harilal Shah’s wicket. Catch and Ball: 2nd Match: CWC 1975 - New Zealand vs. East and Central Africa June 7, 1975Parbhu Nana of East and Central Africa became the first bowler to take a catch off his own bowling in CWCs when he dismissed New Zealand’s John Morrison who was playing at 14 off 37.Stump:2nd Match: CWC 1975 - New Zealand vs. East and Central Africa June 7, 1975Ken Wadsworth, New Zealand’s wicket-keeper, was the first to send a batsman back to the pavilion because of a stumping. The batsman was Frasat Ali of East and Central Africa.5-wicket haul 3rd Match: CWC 1975 - Australia vs. Pakistan - June 7, 1975During the 3rd match of the 1975 CWC, Austalia’s Dennis Lillee became the first bowler in CWC history to take 5 wickets. He completed this feat against Pakistan by taking the wickets of Sadiq Muhammad, Asif Iqbal, Sarfraz Nawaz, Wasim Bari, and Asif Masood.Retired Hurt7th Match: CWC 1975 - Australia vs. Sri Lanka - June 11, 1975Sunil Wettimuny of Sri Lanka became the first batsmen to be retired hurt when he was playing at 53 (102 deliveries)Hat-trick24th Match: CWC 1987 - New Zealand vs. India - October 31, 1987During the 24th match of the 1987 CWC, India’s Chetan Sharma took the CWC’s first hat-trick when playing against New Zealand. Sharma dismissed Ken Rutherford, Ian Smith, and Ewen Chatfield.Most Wickets: Australia’s former pacer, Glenn McGrath took 71 wickets in CWCs, the most by any bowler in history. While the second most wickets were captured by Sri Lanka’s spin maestro, Muttiah Muralitharan, with 68 wickets.Most wickets:Sri Lanka’s Lasith Malinga took 4 consecutive wickets against South Africa during the 26th match of the 2007 CWC in South Africa. This made Malinga the bowler with the most wickets in consecutive deliveries. He dismissed, Shaun Pollock, Andrew Hall, Kallis, and Makhaya NtiniMost Catches Sri Lanka’s Kumar Sangakkara took 54 catches as a wicketkeeper, the highest taken at this position. Similarly, Australia’s Ricky Ponting, as a fielder, took 28 catches, the most by a fielder in CWC history. Most Extras: 11th Match, CWC 1999 - Scotland vs. Pakistan - May 20, 1999Scotland during their match against Pakistan at the 1999 CWC gave away 59 extra runs (5 byes, 6 leg byes, 33wides and 15 no halls) which are the most number of runs given in extras ever in CWCs.Most appearances: Australia’s former ODI captain Ricky Ponting has played the most number of CWC matches (46).

from The News International - US http://bit.ly/30raoVX