The 2023 World Cup came to a close on November 19 with Australia clinching the title for a record sixth time. Here are Wisden’s top five batting innings from the World Cup.
40 centuries were scored in 48 World Cup matches. Some games were 200, some were 3, and some were 4. Since then, there have been some smaller but not less valuable impacts.
Here, we rank the best five individual bats in the 2023 World Cup.
Glenn Maxwell
201 (128)* vs Afghanistan, Mumbai
Maxwell played arguably the greatest one-day innings of all time when he single-handedly (and one-legged) wrested victory from the brink of apparent defeat against Afghanistan in Mumbai< /strong>. He went 4-for-41 into the game and chased 292 points. At one point Australia were 91 for 7, but Maxwell continued to attack despite being paralyzed by cramps and spasms and finished the match with six points, which also took him to the top. Two hundred.
Travis Head
137 (120) vs India, Final, Ahmedabad
Australia remained in the World Cup squad despite the head‘s injury. He started midway through the tournament and showed his worth in the first match and knockout game. In the final, Head scored 137 out of 120 while chasing 241 points, never giving India control of the game. He also won the award in the semi-final against Australia and was deservedly named Player of the Match.
David Miller
101 (116) vs Australia, Semi-final, Kolkata
Miller entered the match at number six as South Africa were in dire straits after losing 24-4 to Australia in the semi-final at Eden Gardens. From a dead and buried situation, he gave South Africa hope, leading the team to 212 and scoring their sixth ODI ton in the process. The fact that he landed on solid ground after his spectacular collapse in the semi-finals makes it clear that this is his best shot yet.
Fakhar Zaman
126 (81)* vs New Zealand, Bengaluru
Fakhar was left out of Pakistan’s starting lineup after Pakistan’s first match at the World Cup, but returned midway through the tournament and scored 81 of his 74 goals against Bangladesh. But his best was yet to come. He put on a show against New Zealand in a must-win match in Bengaluru. Chasing 402, he gave Pakistan a good start, scoring a 63-ball hundred strong> and helping Pakistan win his DLS match.
Rahmanullah Gurbaz
80 (57) vs England, Delhi
Gurbaz brought success to Afghanistan with a flyer against England in Delhi. He formed an opening partnership of 114 runs with Ibrahim Zadran in 16.4 overs, of which Zadran scored just 28 off 48 balls. Ghurbaz was eliminated due to a terrible mix-up with Hashmatullah Shahidi, but his attack helped Afghanistan increase their total score to 284, and they ended up easily defending the defending champions in their first World Cup match with a full squad. He achieved victory.
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