1. First 50 over World cup in 1987.
The fourth edition of the world cup, which also was the first ever world cup held outside England had a slight change in the number of overs. Previous three editions were played with a 60 overs per innings, whereas the 1987 edition was the first ever 50 overs World Championship. The format of the game changed in 1987 because of shorter daylight in the Indian subcontinent compared to England. The reduction of overs meant there were no delays in the matches and all fixtures were completed in a shorter period of time. Since then there hasn’t been a change in the format and all World cup events have had a 50 over each side format.
2.
The Era of
White ball in World cup- 1992.
White balls were first introduced in world
series cricket the brainchild of Kerry Packer in 1977 in Australia. There were
a lot of firsts in the 92 World cup such as coloured clothing worn by teams,
the sightscreen colour changed to black, day/night games were played in a World
Cup for the first time. However, the biggest change was the change in the
colour of the ball from red to white. The colour was changed to white so that
the players can sight the ball easily at night as the red ball was not easily
visible and the players had issues to sight the ball under floodlights.
3.
Australia
finally got past West Indies in the World Cup.
The Hosts Australia finally defeated the now
declining West Indies in a world cup encounter for the very first time in 1992.
The two sides had previously faced each other against 4 times where the men
from the Isles nation were victorious in each encounter. But in the 1992 world
cup, Australia turned the tables by defeating west indies for the very first
time much to the delight of the Australian crowd. The match took place at the
iconic MCG under lights. Australia won the match by 57 runs, courtesy a sublime
century by their opener David Boon who was also adjudged the player of the
match.
4. First World Cup hit wicket- 1975.
Roy Fredericks became the first batsman to get out hit wicket in world cup history. The world cup final of the very first edition itself witnessed a hit wicket. The west Indian opener was on 12 when he tried to hook a short delivery from the legendary fast bowler Dennis Lillee. Fredericks lost his balance and fell on the stumps. The West Indies although went onto win the world cup but Roy Fredericks entered in the history books and became the first ever player to get out hit wicket. Since then 7 more players have got out hit wicket in world cup history.
5. Fastest delivery in World cup history.
Shoaib Akhtar bowled the fastest ball in World cup history, which was recorded at 100.2 mph or 161.3 km. He officially became the first bowler to break the 100 miles mark and the fastest bowler since speed was started being recorded. He broke the record against England in 2003 World Cup. Since then the Australian duo of Shaun Tait and Brett Lee have managed to cross the 100mph mark.
