Lara, Hinds and Davison show the way 

Brian Lara: Record setter

The 1996 World Cup was going to be the run-fest to end all run-fests. Flat pitches and heavy bats promised a cricketing demolition derby to those thrill-crazed fun-seekers for whom there is no greater pleasure than seeing a helpless fast-bowler torn limb from limb by a pack of yapping pinch hitters.

Certainly that tournament produced some big runs: the attack of the United Arab Emirates bit the pillow courtesy of Gary Kirsten (his 188* is still the highest score in World Cups), and Mark Waugh and Sachin Tendulkar diced each other for the honour of clouting the most centuries at the top of the order. The final was won by batsmen, not bowlers.

England in 1999 could not have been more different. The ball swung like Austin Powers, pinch-hitters were made obsolete and most teams had to get used to being two down in the second over. South Africa, we were assured by the experts, would be a mix of the two: there would be something in it for the seamers, but on the whole batsmen could look forward to decent batting conditions to make the odd 50 or 60.

Chaminda Vaas and Wasim Akram have certainly found a bit in South African pitches, but those southpaw wrecking-balls aside, this World Cup has produced a phenomenal slew of record-challenging innings, making a mockery of the common wisdom that the subcontinent is the only place for rapid scoring.

When Gary Kirsten stroked 51 off 30 balls against Bangladesh at Bloemfontein, it went almost unnoticed by the statisticians. In 1996 Kirsten would have found himself the proud co-owner of the record for the fastest fifty in World Cup cricket (then also owned by Sanath Jayasuriya and Martin Crowe); but in 1999 the thinking man’s slogger, Tom Moody, thumped 50 off 28 balls against Bangladesh to claim top spot.

Top spot, that is, until the West Indies snuffed out Canada at Centurion. Opener Wavell Hinds, perhaps the most awkward-looking batsman since Angus Fraser, elbowed his way to 50 off 24 balls, and the statisticians went wild. However Wavell’s record lasted all of eight balls, as a Mr B.C. Lara went to his half-century off 23 delivers a few minutes later.

The West Indians lefties were spectacular, but were nevertheless overshadowed by yet another record. John Davison, a cavalier right-hander promoted from the depths of the Canadian tail to open the batting, slashed, flicked and carved his way to 100 off 67 balls, as Merv Dillon and Vasbert Drakes revealed why they are fast bowlers and not rocket scientists, bowling shorter and shorter the harder and further Davison hit them. It was the fastest hundred in a World Cup, shattering a record many thought would never be broken, Kapil Dev’s blitz off 72 balls against Zimbabwe at Tunbridge Wells in 1983.

The next day Zimbabwean lower-order slogger Andy Blignaut slammed the Australian attack for 50 from 25 balls, but had to settle for the third fastest fifty in World Cup history.

So where do these hundreds and fifties rate in the all-time records? Davison’s knock may have been streets ahead of anything the World Cup has seen, but it slots in only in fifth position on the all-time lists. Top spot belongs to that walking advertisement for shampoo and conditioner, Shahid Afridi, who took advantage of the tiny Nairobi ground to smash Sri Lank for 100 off 37 balls in 1996 (six months earlier the roles had been reversed, as Sanath Jayasuriya took Pakistan for a ton off 48 balls in Singapore). The number two slot belongs to Lara, whose hundred against Bangladesh in Dhaka in 1999 came up off 45 balls.

In terms of half-centuries, Jayasuriya still rules to roost, his fifty against Pakistan in 1996 coming up in 17 balls. It broke a record that had stood for six years, set by a very unlikely batsman: Simon O’Donnell. The jovial Australian seamer clubbed Sri Lanka for 50 from 18 balls in Sharjah in 1990. Of the fast fifties scores at this World Cup, only Lara’s record 23-baller features on the all-time list, coming in at number twelve after an eclectic mix of big-hitters, ranging from Sehwag and Tendulkar to Dougie Marillier and Ajit Agarkar.

For all the fireworks of the last week, it is still safe to suggest that the best World Cup hundred still belongs to Clive Lloyd. His 102 against Australia in the 1975 final came up off 82 balls, fairly sedate by Canadian standards, but at the other end were the two best bowlers in the world and his team was in trouble. Lloyd arrived at the crease with the West Indies on 50 for 3. Dennis Lillee and Jeff Thompson, backed up by Gary Gilmour, were taking no prisoners. His innings has become legend, and unless somebody hits 102 off 81 balls against Australia in the final at the Wanderers, it will remain the best.  

By: Alex Fowles