After India’s impressive run of 10 consecutive victories, Australia finally halted their progress by securing a clinical six-wicket win in Ahmedabad on Sunday, November 19, clinching their record sixth title. Travis Head was the standout performer in this World Cup. Here are the major records from the high-scoring Cricket World Cup 2023:
- Every team won at least two matches in a single edition of the World Cup for the first time in history. Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and the Netherlands finished with four points each, with net run-rate costing the latter two a spot in the Champions Trophy 2025.
- A total of 24,639 runs were scored in the tournament, including extras, with 23,427 runs coming from batters alone. This was the highest run tally in any World Cup edition, surpassing the 2015 edition’s 23,531 runs (22,293 by batters) in Australia and New Zealand.
- The average innings score in the 2023 World Cup was 257, the highest ever, surpassing the 252 average in 2019. The average first innings score was 289, 17 runs better than the 272 in 2015, while the second innings average was 224, second only to the 237 in 2019.
- There was a significant difference of 65 runs between the average first innings score and the second innings score, tying with the 1975 edition for the highest margin (238 vs. 173 across 15 matches). However, 25 of the 48 matches were won by the chasing team, a joint record in World Cups, equaling the 2007 edition in the West Indies. The average winning margin for teams batting first was 130 runs.
- Only one match ended with a last-ball finish, the clash between Australia and New Zealand in Dharamsala, where a World Cup record of 771 runs were scored across 100 overs. In 22 other matches, the minimum win margin for teams batting first was 33 runs, with 13 of them winning by 100 runs or more.
- Out of the 25 matches won by teams chasing, four were won with three wickets to spare or fewer, none of them going into the last over. South Africa’s victory over Pakistan in Chennai was the seventh one-wicket win in World Cup history. In contrast, six of the 28 matches won by teams batting first in the 2019 edition had a margin of 18 runs or fewer.
- Teams winning the toss in the 2023 World Cup won 19 out of 48 matches (39.58%). The win-loss ratio for teams winning the toss was the second-lowest across all World Cup editions, bettering only the 1979 edition.
- A total of 40 individual centuries were scored at the 2023 World Cup, two more than in 2015. Nine of these centuries were scored by South Africa, the highest by any team in a single World Cup. Quinton de Kock registered four centuries, the second most in a single World Cup, just one behind Rohit Sharma’s record from 2019.
- Fifteen of the 40 centuries were scored by batsmen positioned at No. 4 or below, a record for a single World Cup. The top three batsmen collectively scored 25 centuries, tying the record set in 2015 and 2019.
- Nine of the top 15 fastest hundreds in World Cup history (achieved in 67 balls or fewer) came in the 2023 edition. Glenn Maxwell set the record for the fastest World Cup century, completing it in just 40 balls against the Netherlands in Delhi.
- A total of 159 scores of 50 or more were registered during the competition, the highest in a World Cup, followed by 149 in 2015 and 145 in 2019.
- The batting average for the top seven batters in the 2023 World Cup was 37.34, the highest ever recorded in a World Cup, slightly surpassing the 36.7 average in 2019. The average run rate of 5.82 was also the highest for any edition, bettering the 5.65 in 2015.
- A total of 644 sixes were hit across 48 matches in the World Cup 2023, averaging 13.4 sixes per match, a significant increase from the roughly 10 sixes per match in 2015. There were also 69 more fours hit in 2023 than the previous record of 2,170 in 2015.
- Rohit Sharma led the six-hitting charts with 31 maximums, breaking the record for the most sixes by a batsman in a World Cup edition, surpassing Chris Gayle’s 26 in 2015. Rohit also surpassed Gayle’s record of 49 World Cup maximums and 553 in international cricket during the campaign.
- The highest total in World Cup history was scored by South Africa, posting 428/5 against Sri Lanka in Delhi. This broke the previous record of 417/6 by Australia against Afghanistan in Perth in 2015. Overall, there have been seven 400-plus innings scores in World Cups, with three each coming in 2015 and 2023.
- Thirteen innings scores of 350 or more were registered at the World Cup 2023, the most in an edition, followed by seven in 2015 and six in 2007.
- The match between Australia and New Zealand in Dharamsala produced a record aggregate of 771 runs, making it the highest-scoring World Cup match in history. Four of the top five highest match aggregates in World Cup history occurred in the 2023 edition.
- Virat Kohli’s 765 runs in the 2023 World Cup were the most by a batsman in a single World Cup edition, surpassing Sachin Tendulkar’s record from 2003. Kohli also registered his 50th ODI hundred during the semi-final against New Zealand in Mumbai.
- Kohli scored nine 50-plus scores from 11 innings in the 2023 World Cup, the most in a single World Cup. Only Steve Smith in 2015 has achieved this feat before, with Kohli having done it twice in his career.
- Seven batters scored 500-plus runs in the 2023 World Cup, the joint-most in a single edition alongside 2019. Daryl Mitchell (552) and Shreyas Iyer (530) achieved this feat from No. 4 or below, while Rachin Ravindra’s 578 was the most by a batter before turning 24.
- Left-arm spinners collectively took 100 wickets in the 2023 World Cup, the most in a single edition. India, New Zealand, and South Africa, three of the four semifinalists, accounted for 76 of those wickets. Spin played a pivotal role, with the difference in averages for spinners in wins compared to defeats being substantial.
- India won 10 matches in the 2023 World Cup, the second most by a team in a single edition, after Australia’s 11 wins in 2003 and 2007. India’s winning streak of 10 consecutive matches is the third-longest in World Cup history, behind
