And what’s the record for most centuries scored by all players in a World Cup?
Steven Lynch23-Jul-2019After the dramatic end to the World Cup final, have there been any other matches in which the Super Over was tied? asked Christopher McDonald from England
The only one I’m aware of before the epic 2019 World Cup final was an IPL match in 2014, between Rajasthan Royals and Kolkata Knight Riders in Abu Dhabi.After both teams scored 152 in their 20 overs, they regrouped for a Super Over: Knight Riders made 11, and with one ball remaining, Royals had made nine. The batsmen, Steven Smith and Shane Watson, clearly knew about the boundary-countback rule – and that they were ahead – as Smith pushed the last delivery through the covers for two. Watson was celebrating as he completed the second run.We tracked Smith down in England, where he is preparing for the Ashes series. He remembered that strange ending in great detail: “Sunil Narine was bowling, and we knew before we went out that we’d scored more boundaries in the game… It got down to the last ball. I was facing and we needed three to win and two to tie. I don’t know whether or not the Kolkata captain, Gautam Gambhir, and their players knew that had we tied we won the game… and he didn’t actually have a cover in. So I was looking at that and I was thinking, ‘Jeez, I’ve got a beautiful little gap here to chip one and score two and win the game.’ I came down the wicket to Sunny, and he bowled me a seam-up delivery for some reason. I actually just almost played a forward defence in between long-off and cover, and we got back for two very comfortably.”3:20
Steven Smith remembers the tied Super Over in IPL 2014
How many centuries were scored in the 2019 World Cup – and was it a record? asked Chelliah Maheswaran from Australia
There was a total of 31 individual centuries in the 2019 World Cup, a record five of them by Rohit Sharma. The only tournament with more was the last one, in Australia and New Zealand in 2015, when there were 38. The fewest centuries in any World Cup was in 1979, when there were only two – by Gordon Greenidge against India at Edgbaston, and Viv Richards in the final at Lord’s – but there were only 14 matches then, as opposed to 48 in 2015 and 2019 (although that includes three abandoned without a ball this time).How often have the top three in the order all been out for 1, as happened to India in their World Cup semi-final? asked Kartik Nishant from India
That Indian innings against New Zealand at Old Trafford, in which Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and KL Rahul all departed for 1, was unique in all international cricket (including women’s matches).It could have been worse: there have been seven innings in men’s internationals – three in Tests, and two each in ODIs and T20s – in which the top three have all been out for ducks. The most recent instance was by Bangladesh as they started their chase for 101 to beat Zimbabwe in a Test in Mirpur in 2014-15: they scraped home by three wickets in the end. The list also includes the famous match at Headingley in 1952, when India were uniquely reduced to 0 for 4 by Fred Trueman and Alec Bedser.India’s top three fell for scores of 1 in the 2019 World Cup semi-final against New Zealand – the first time that happened in international cricket•IDI via Getty ImagesHow many people were in World Cup squads in 2019 but didn’t play? asked Kyle Robertson from Australia
There were eight men who were officially part of a World Cup squad for all of part of the 2019 tournament who never actually appeared in a match (excluding any replaced before the start of the competition). Three of them were present on the day of the final at Lord’s: Tom Curran and Liam Dawson for England, and New Zealand’s Tom Blundell. Elsewhere, Abu Jayed never got a game for Bangladesh, while Mohammad Hasnain missed out for Pakistan. Dale Steyn started the tournament in South Africa’s squad but failed to recover from a shoulder injury and was soon replaced. Two men who were called up as late replacements also never featured: the India batsman Mayank Agarwal, and Matthew Wade, who was added to the Australia squad on the eve of the semi-final but didn’t play in it.Who has played first-class cricket on the most different grounds? asked Michael Freeman from England
I had expected the answer here would be some long-ago county cricketer, who chalked up lots of appearances on obscure outgrounds – but that’s not quite the case. As it happens, the record was broken around 18 months ago. Until then it had been shared by England’s Tom Graveney and Pakistan’s Mushtaq Mohammad, who both played first-class cricket on 115 different grounds. But in November 2017, Guyana visited the Brian Lara Academy in Tarouba to take on Trinidad & Tobago – and their side included 43-year-old Shivnarine Chanderpaul, who was turning out on his 116th ground. He didn’t contribute much to Guyana’s innings victory – he was out for 2 – but his son, Tagenarine, made 84.There are 44 other men who have appeared on 100 or more different grounds; the only recent player among them is the Indian batsman Gautam Gambhir, with 103.Use our feedback form or the Ask Steven Facebook page to ask your stats and trivia questions
