The big 2023 World Cup just finished, and Australia won for the sixth time by beating India in the final on November 19 in Ahmedabad. The tournament had amazing performances from players hitting and throwing the ball. The pitches were great for batting, so we saw some incredible plays.
There were lots of high scores and standout performances. The batters showed how good they are with some impressive innings. Big names like Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Quinton de Kock, and others did really well in the tournament.
Teams had strong batting line-ups, and the tournament started and ended with players hitting centuries. In the first game, two players scored centuries, setting the pace for the whole competition. And fittingly, the final match was won by Australia with a century from Travis Head. The small boundaries in Indian grounds made this World Cup break lots of records for batting.
Now, let’s talk about the five best innings of the 2023 World Cup
5. Daryl Mitchell 130 vs India, Dharamsala
Mitchell scored two hundreds in the World Cup, both against India. But his first century was harder to get than the one he scored later at Wankhede. He got his first hundred in the World Cup during a match against New Zealand at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association (HPCA) Stadium in Dharamsala.
Mitchell and Rachin Ravindra made a partnership of 100 runs after New Zealand started poorly at 19/2. Mitchell’s century helped New Zealand score 273/10. He made 130 runs from 127 balls, hitting nine fours and five sixes.
4. Aiden Markram 105 vs Sri Lanka, Delhi
Aiden Markram played really well in a cricket match. He scored 106 runs in just 54 balls, which is the second-fastest century ever in the tournament. He hit 14 fours and 3 sixes. His amazing performance happened at Arun Jaitley Stadium. He started playing in the 31st over and quickly showed how good he is.
In the 34th over, he hit three fours in a row. He reached his fifty in the 42nd over, taking only 33 balls. After that, he scored another fifty runs in just 19 balls, ending with a six. His strike rate was really high, 196.30.
Markram’s great innings came against a not-so-good bowling team from Sri Lanka. Two other players, Quinton de Kock and Rassie van Dussen, also scored centuries. Because of them, South Africa got a big total of 428/5, which was a record.
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3. Virat Kohli 117 vs New Zealand, Mumbai
In the big game between India and New Zealand, played on a flat cricket pitch in Wankhede stadium, Kohli scored his 50th century in one-day international matches. This was a huge achievement for several reasons.
In Mumbai, Kohli went past Sachin Tendulkar’s record of 49 centuries in one-day international matches. It was a historic moment in the tournament.
Kohli scored 117 runs off 113 balls, hitting nine fours and two sixes. This helped India reach a high total of 397/4, securing their place in the finals.
Even though Kohli had already scored two centuries in the tournament against Bangladesh (103* in Pune) and South Africa (101* in Kolkata), his century in the semi-final match was even more important, earning it the third spot in our rankings.
2. Travis Head 137 vs India, Ahmedabad
In the big 2023 World Cup final, Travis Head played amazingly in front of 120,000 people at the biggest cricket stadium. Australia had to chase a tough score of 241 runs, and they were struggling at 47/3.
Despite a tough start from the Indian bowlers, Head started playing aggressively in the middle part of the game. He ended up scoring 137 runs from 120 balls, and Australia won the match in 43 overs. He was named the best player of the match. Head became the third Australian and seventh overall player to score a century in a World Cup final. This was Head’s second hundred in the tournament. Some people think his first hundred against New Zealand was even better.
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1. Glenn Maxwell 201* vs Sri Lanka, Mumbai
Some games in cricket can define a player’s career. This one game is thought by many to be the best ever in a type of match called One Day Internationals, or ODIs.
On November 7, Australia was in big trouble. They were close to losing badly to Afghanistan, with only 91 runs scored and 7 players out. But then Glenn Maxwell played incredibly well. He scored a huge number of runs, over 200, which had never been done before in a World Cup match where one team is chasing to win.
Even though Maxwell was in a lot of pain from cramps and a back problem, he didn’t give up. He kept playing with bravery, hitting the ball all over the field. In the end, he hit 21 fours and ten big sixes, finishing with a score of 201 not out from 128 balls. Many people agree that this is the best innings ever played in an ODI match.
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