The ICC Cricket World Cup has always been a platform which has seen batsmen flourish and score big runs. Batting has always been of paramount importance in a World Cup. The likes of Chris Gayle, Sachin Tendulkar, Viv Richards, Virender Sehwag have all-produced match-winning innings for their respective teams.
With 10 days to go for the World Cup here’s a look at the top 10 highest individual scores of the tournament so far.
Martin Guptill’s unbeaten 237 remains the highest score in the World Cup history. Guptill’s knock came against West Indies in the 2015 edition. The right-hander hit as many as 24 fours and 11 sixes.
In reply, West Indies could only score 250 as the Kiwis won the game by 143 runs.
Universe Boss, Chris Gayle played one of the most devastating innings in World Cup history in 2015. He scored 215, his highest ODI score and became the first West Indian to score 200 in ODIs.
Zimbabwe scored 289 in 44.3 overs with contributions from the middle-order. However, they fell short by 73 runs as Windies won the game via Duckworth-Lewis method.
Former South African opener Gary Kirsten notched up his highest ODI score against UAE in the 1996 World Cup. He scored an unbeaten 188 against them at Rawalpindi in Pakistan.
In reply, UAE scored 158/8 in their 50 overs as Allan Donald and Brian McMillan took 3 each as the Proteas bowlers were too good for the inexperienced UAE batting line-up.
Former Indian skipper Sourav Ganguly always loved playing against Sri Lanka and the 1999 World Cup saw him score his highest ODI score against them.
The left-hander scored 183 off 158 balls with 17 fours and seven sixes. Coupled with Rahul Dravid’s 145, India finished with 373/6.
Robin Singh’s fifer then helped India bowl out Sri Lanka for just 216 as India won the match by 157 runs
Windies legend Viv Richards in the 1987 edition came up with a scintillating knock against Sri Lanka in Karachi. Richard, who was at the end of his career, saved his best for the occasion as the Sri Lankan bowlers saw the wrath of his willow.
Sri Lanka managed to reach 169/4 in their 20 overs as Windies won the match by 191 runs.
One of the modern legends, David Warner, who played his first World Cup in the 2015 edition came up with a match-winning knock against Afghanistan. He scored 178 off 133 balls including 19 fours and five sixes.
Afghanistan, were then bowled out for a mere 142 as the Aussies won the game by a margin of 275 runs which remains to be the biggest margin for a win by a team in terms of runs in World Cup history.
1983 World Cup winning skipper Kapil Dev played one of his match-winning innings against Zimbabwe. In that edition, India won their maiden World Cup as well.
India scored 266/8 and then dismissed Zimbabwe for 235 as India won the match by 31 runs.
Virender Sehwag equalled Kapil Dev’s 175 against Bangladesh in India’s first match in the 2011 edition. His knock came in Mirpur.
India reached 370/4 in their 50 overs. Bangladesh in reply scored 289 with contributions from Tamim Iqbal (70) and Shakib Al Hasan (55) as the Tigers fell short by 87 runs.
Zimbabwe’s Craig Wishart scored his highest ODI score against Namibia in the 2003 edition. He scored 172 as his innings comprised of 18 fours and three sixes.
Namibia in reply, scored 104/5 in 25.1 overs as Zimbabwe won the game by 86 runs via Duckworth-Lewis method.
New Zealand skipper Glenn Tuner scored 172 against East Africa in 1975. His 211-ball knock included 16 fours and two sixes.
East Africa scored 212/8 in their allotted 60 overs as New Zealand won the match by a 181-run margin.
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)