World Cup 2007 semifinalists and their history

Although South Africa defeat against New Zealand provided an opportunity for England to come back in the tournament, an excellent come back from South Africa throw England out of the tournament. Australia, New Zealand and Sri Lanka did clear their path to semi final very early in the super eight stage. So we have now Australia, New Zealand, Sri Lanka and South Africa will contest in Semi Final.

First Semi Final New Zealand v Sri Lanka

The first semi final of this tournament will be played between New Zealand and Sri Lanka. This match will be played on Tuesday, 24th April at Sabina Park, Jamaica. New Zealand has never won in world cup semi final moreover they lost against Sri Lanka in their super eight series match.

Second Semi Final Australia v South Africa

The second Semi Final will be contested between Australia and South Africa on Wednesday 25 April at Beausejour Stadium, St Lucia. Australia is the only unbeaten team so far in this tournament. Also they never loose in their previous semi final games.

Here is brief history of each of semi finalists in previous eight cricket world cup tournaments.

Australia History

This is the 6th time Australia will play in the semifinal and they have never loose in their previous games. In 1975 they beat England, in 1987 beat Pakistan, 1996 beat West Indies, 1999 beat South Africa and in 2003 they beat Sri Lanka.

New Zealand Semi final History

New Zealand is entering for the 5th time. They never win in their previous games. They lost against West Indies in 1975, against England in 1979 and against Pakistan in 1992 and 1999.

Sri Lanka Semi Fianl History

Sri Lanka managed to enter in the semifinal 2 times before. This is the 3rd time they will play in the cricket world cup semi final. Before they won against India in 1996 and lost to Australia in 2003.

South Africa

South Africa are the most unlucky team in the history of world cup semi finals. First time they played against England in 1992 needed 22 off 13 balls when it was rained stopped the play. By the time they needed 21 off one ball. Second time again Australia in 1999 needing nine to win off the final over, Klusener crashed Damien Fleming's first two balls for four. Klusener wanted a short single but this made Allan Donald caught in the middle of the pitch run out and the match was tied. With the advantage gained during the super six stage Australia reached the final.

An early exits of India and Pakistan and very long schedule made this tournament boring so far let us hope for more entertained cricket in the semis and in the final.

Dravid sixth in 10000 ODI runs club

Dravid become sixth player to enter in 10000 ODI runs club after Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Inzamam-ul-Haq, Brian Lara and Jayasuriya. While playing his 287th inning of his 309th ODI match when he scored 22, he entered the club of 10000 ODI runs.

Rahul Dravid is the most dependable batsman for India in both Test and ODI cricket match. He is classical stroke player who plays every kind of shots in game of cricket. His first appearance in OID cricket was at at The Padang, Singapore on 3rd April 1996. Then he took 309 matches to reach 10000 OID runs milestone. Overall he played he scored 10044 runs in 309 matches with average 40. This include 12 Hundreds and 77 fifties with the best score 153.

Here is the Rahul Dravid's ODI Career milestones

• 1000 runs in 35th ODI Against Pakistan in India, 1997
• 2000 runs in 70th ODI Against NZ in NZ, 1998/99
• 3000 runs in 96th ODI Against WI in Singapur, 1999
• 4000 runs in 124th ODI Against Pakistan in UAE, 1999/00
• 5000 runs in 158th ODI Against SA in SA, 2001/02
• 6000 runs in 187th ODI Against WI in India, 2002/03
• 7000 runs in 223th ODI Against Australia in Australia, 2003/04
• 8000 runs in 249th ODI Against Pakistan in India, 2004/05
• 9000 runs in 280th ODI Against Pakistan in Pakistan, 2005/06
• 10000 runs in 309th ODI Against SL in India, 2006/07

Rahul Dravid's ODI runs against each countries.

• Pakistan 57 ODI 1823 runs
• Sri Lanka 42 ODI 1516 runs
• West Indies 39 ODI 1344 runs
• South Africa 33 ODI 1197 runs
• New Zealand 30 ODI 1018 runs
• Australia 36 ODI 923 runs
• Zimbabwe 32 ODI 885 runs
• England 18 ODI 665 runs
• Kenya 11 ODI 358 runs
• Bangladesh 7 ODI 119 runs
• U.A.E. 1 ODI 104 runs
• World XI 1 ODI 75 runs
• Netherlands 1 ODI 17 runs

Cricket World Cup Records

One day internationals(ODIs) are the most exciting and entertaining matches since its started in the history of Cricket. Cricket World Cup is the biggest championship tournament of such one day matches. Cricket World Cup is contested between all test cricket playing nations and qualifiers. Since its beginning in 1975, so far 8 such tournaments are organized. Following summarizes the Batting, Bowling and other world records in Cricket World Cup tournaments.

World Cup Batting Records

Highest Top 5 Team Scores

• 398-5 By Sri Lanka against Kenya, Kandy, 1996
• 373-6 By India against Sri Lanka, Taunton 1999
• 360-4 By West Indies against Sri Lanka, Karachi 1987
• 359-2 By Australia against India, Johannesburg 2003
• 340-2 By Zimbabwe against Namibia, Harare 2003

Lowest Top 5 Team Scores

• 36 By Canada against Sri Lanka, Paarl 2003
• 45 By Canada against England, Manchester 1979
• 45 By Namibia against Australia, Potchefstroom 2003
• 68 By Scotland against West Indies, Leicester 1999
• 74 By Pakistan against England, Adelaide 1992

Highest Top 5 Individual Scores

• 188* Gary Kirsten against United Arab Emirates, Rawalpindi 1996
• 183 Saurav Ganguly against Sri Lanka, Taunton 1999
• 181 Viv. Richards against Sri Lanka, Karachi 1987
• 175* Kapil Dev against Zimbabwe, Tunbridge Wells 1983
• 172* Wishart against Namibia, Harare 2003

Highest Top 5 Individual Total Runs in a Tournament

• 673 Sachin Tendulkar(India) in 2003 Average 61.18
• 523 Sachin Tendulkar(India) in 1996 Average 87.16
• 484 Mark Waugh(Australia) in 1996 Average 80.66
• 471 Greham Gooch(Englang) in 1987 Average 58.87
• 465 Saurav Ganguly(India) in 2003 Average 58.12

Highest Top 5 Individual Total Scores in All Tournaments

• 1732 Sachin Tendulkar(India) Average 59.72
• 1083 Javed Miandad(Pakistan) Average 43.32
• 1064 Arvinda de Silva(Sri Lanka) Average 36.68
• 1013 Viv. Richards(West Indies) Average 63.31
• 1004 Mark Waugh(Australia) Average 52.84

Highest Top 5 Partnerships

• 318 R Dravid & SC Ganguly, 2nd wicket, India v Sri Lanka - 1999
• 244 SR Tendulkar & SC Ganguly, 2nd wicket, India v Namibia - 2003
• 237* R Dravid & SR Tendulkar, 2nd wicket, India v Kenya - 1999
• 234* RT Ponting & DR Martyn, 2nd wicket, Australia v India - 2003
• 228 JF Kloppenburg & KJJ van Noortwijk, 2nd wicket, Netherlands v Namibia - 2003

World Cup Bowling Records

Top 5 Best Bowling in an Innings

• 7/15 GD McGrath Australia v Namibia , 2003
• 7/20 AJ Bichel Australia v England , 2003
• 7/51 WW Davis West Indies v Australia , 1983
• 6/14 GJ Gilmour Australia v England , 1975
• 6/23 SE Bond New Zealand v Australia, 2003
• 6/23 A Nehra India v England , 2003

Top 5 Most Wickets takers in a Tournament

• 23/331 C. Vaas(Sri Lanka), 2003
• 22/394 B. Lee(Australia), 2003
• 21/310 G. McGrath(Australia), 2003
• 20/325 G. Allott(New Zealand), 1999
• 20/361 S. Warne(Australia), 1999

Top 5 Most Wicket takers in all Tournaments

• 55/1311 Wasim Akram(Pakistan) Average 23.83
• 45/935 Glen McGrath(Australia) Average 20.77
• 44/1224 Javagal Srinath(India) Average 27.81
• 38/913 Alen Donald(South Africa) Average 24.02
• 36/754 Chaminda Vaas(Sri Lanka) Average 20.94

Hat Tricks in World Cups

• By C. Sharma For India Against New Zealand, 1987
• By S. Mushtaq For Pakistan Against Zimbabwe, 1999
• By C. Vaas For Sri Lanka Against Bangladesh, 2003
• By B. Lee For Australia Against Kenya, 2003

World Cup Other Interesting Records

Top 5 Fastest Hundreds in World Cup

• 67 Balls By J. Davison For Canada Against West Indies, 2003
• 72 Balls By Kapil Dev For India Against Zimbabwe, 1983
• 82 Balls By C. Lloyd For West Indies Against Australia, 1975
• 83 Balls By B. Lara For West Indies Against South Africa, 1996
• 84 Balls By S. Tendulkar For India Against Kenya, 1999

Top 5 Fastest Fifties in World Cup

• 23 Balls By B. Lara For West Indies Against Canada, 2003
• 24 Balls By W. Hinds For West Indies Against Canada, 2003
• 25 Balls By J. Davison For Canada Against New Zealand, 2003
• 25 Balls By A. Blignaut For Zimbabwe Against Australia, 2003
• 28 Balls By T. Moody For Australia Against Bangladesh, 1999

Top 5 Most Ducks in World Cup Career

• 5 Times By N. Astle(New Zealand)
• 5 Times By I. Ahmed(Pakistan)
• 4 Times By K. Arthurton(West Indies)
• 4 Times By K. Srikkanth(India)
• 4 Times By Inzamam-ul-Haq(Pakistan)

Cricket World Cup History, Cricket World Cup Winners

In the Cricket history, the ICC Cricket World Cup is the biggest Cricket tournament of one day cricket matches. So far 8 such tournaments are held in Cricket world cup history. The winners of these tournaments are: Australia winner for the most 3 times, West Indies won 2 times while India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka have won one time each. Following is the summary information about the Cricket World Cup History so far.

The ODI Cricket World Cup History begun in 1975 when England held the first world cup sponsored by Prudential Insurance Company and so named Prudential World Cup. This tournament is played between cricket Test playing nations and qualifiers. Forthcoming Cricket World cup 2007 is hosted by West Indies and 16 teams will play in this tournament. Following is the summary history of each of the tournaments held so far.

First Cricket World Cup, 1975, England - Winner: West Indies
In the Cricket World Cup History first ever tournament was hosted by England. This was played between England, Australia, New Zealand, West Indies, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and East Africa. This was sponsored by Prudential Insurance Company and hence named Prudential World Cup. West Indies won this first ever held tournament beating Australia by 17 runs. West Indies made 291/8 in 60 overs with Clive Lloyd 102 runs off just 85 balls but Australia fall short by 17 runs.

Second Cricket World Cup, 1979, England - West Indies won
This was the second World Cup tournament played in 1979, once again hosted by England. And once again was sponsored by Prudential Insurance Company and hence named Prudential World Cup. This was played between Australia, Canada, England, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, Sri lanka and West Indies. By first batting in final West Indies made 286/9 with the help of superb batting from Sir Vivian Richards 138*. England could not achieve this score and lost the game by 92 runs.

Third Cricket World Cup Winner India, In 1983, at England
The third tournament was played in 1983, once again hosted by England and was sponsored by Prudential Insurance Company. This was played between Australia, England, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, Srilanka, West Indies and Zimbabwe. This tournament is remembered in the histroy of Indian cricket and in the history of world cricket too. The final was played between India and West Indies. In the first innings India made only 183 in 54.4 overs. No one hope that the India could win this game with such low score of 183. But it was surprise for all the cricket fans and India restrict West Indies to only 140 and won the world cup by 43 runs. Mohinder Amarnath named man of the match for his all rounder performance.

Fourth Cricket World Cup, 1987, India and Pakistan - Australia won
This is the first time the Cricket World Cup hosted out side England in Cricket History. This was jointly hosted by India and Pakistan and sponsored by Reliance company and so named Reliance World Cup. It was played between Australia, England, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, West Indies and Zimbabwe. The final was played at Eden Gardens, Kolkata, India between Australia and England. Playing first Australia made 253/7 in 50 overs and win the tournament by 7 runs to England. David Boon was named man of the match for his 75 runs.

Fifth Cricket World Cup, 1992, Australia and New Zealand - Pakistan won
The Fifth time it was played between Australia, England, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, West Indies, Zimbabwe and South Africa. It was Jointly hosted by Australia and New Zealand called the Benson and Hedges World Cup. Final was played between Pakistan and England and Pakistan win the game by 22 runs, Wasim Akram named man of the match.

Sixth Cricket World Cup, 1996 - Winner Sri Lanka
The Sixth tournament was jointly hosted by three countries India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. It was called Wills World Cup. It was played between Australia, England, India, Kenya, New Zealand, Netherlands, Pakistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka, United Arab Emirates, West Indies and Zimbabwe. This tournament was remembered for three things in Cricket World Cup History, first the winner is one of the hosting nations, second first time win by the team batting second in world cup final and the third they are the winner throughout without loosing single match. Srin Lanka won the world cup beating Australia by 7 wickets. Aravinda da Silva named man of the match for his 107*.

Seventh Cricket World Cup, 1999, England - Australia won Seventh Cricket World Cup was called ICC World Cup and hosted by England again. It was played between Australia, Bangladesh, England, India, Kenya, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa, Scotland, Sri Lanka, West Indies and Zimbabwe. The final was played at Lords between Australia and Pakistan. Australia easily win over Pakistan by 8 wickets in the low scoring game. Batting first Pakistan made only 132, the lowest total ever recorded in final in Cricket World Cup History. Shane Warne named man of the match for his superb bowling performance.

Eighth Cricket World Cup, 2003, South Africa, Zimbabwe and Kenya - Australia won The Eighth tournament was played between Australia, Bangladesh, Canada, England, India, Kenya, Namibia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa, Scotland, Sri Lanka, West Indies and Zimbabwe. It was jointly hosted by South Africa, Zimbabwe and Kenya. It was also called ICC Cricket World Cup. The final was played between Australia and India, with Australia win the match by 125 runs. This is the third time Australia win the world cup, the highest number of time any nation who won the world cup in Cricket World Cup History.

Forthcoming Ninth ICC Cricket World Cup, 2007, West Indies - (Who will win?) Forthcoming ICC Cricket World Cup 2007 will start from March, 2007. This is the first time in Cricket World Cup History hosted by West Indies. It will be contested by 16 teams divided into 4 groups.
A. Australia, South Africa, Scotland, Holland
B. Sri Lanka, India, Bangladesh, Bermuda
C. New Zealand,England,Kenya,Canada
D. Pakistan, West Indies, Zimbabwe, Ireland
Top two teams from each group will then be taken to Super 8 formate group. From these top 8 teams semi-finalists will be decided.