During the crucial match against Sri Lanka at the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023, New Zealand dominantly beat Sri Lanka to put one strong step forward for the Semi-finals. While the left-arm fast bowler Trent Boult was a star of the match, he also became the first New Zealand cricketer to complete 50 wickets in the ODI World Cup.
Bengaluru hosted that 41st game at the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023, New Zealand vs Sri Lanka, which was a must-win game for the Blackcaps.
After New Zealand chose to field first, they bundled out the struggling Sri Lankan team for only 171 runs in 46.4 overs. Trent Boult had a massive role in that strong bowling performance as he finished with the bowling figures of 10-3-37-3, including picking up three out of the first four Lankan wickets.
New Zealand left-arm pacer Trent Boult completed 50 ODI World Cup wickets
Boult’s first victim in that game was Kusal Mendis. In his third over of the match, the Lankan captain edged to the third man, where smart Rachin Ravindra completed a good catch. It was the 50th wicket for Boult in his ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup career. The left-arm fast-medium bowler ended the game with 52 ODI World Cup wickets.
Here are some crucial stats of Trent Boult’s 50 ODI World Cup wickets completion
Boult became the first New Zealand bowler to complete 50 ODI World Cup wickets.
Boult became the third left-arm pacer and left-arm bowler to take 50 Cricket World Cup wickets.
Boult became the fifth pacer to pick up 50 wickets in Cricket World Cup history.
Boult was the sixth overall bowler to collect 50 wickets in ODI World Cup.
Also Read | Trent Boult is also 3rd fastest to complete 200 wickets
Bowlers with 50 ODI World Cup wickets
Player (Team) | Bowling style | Wickets |
Glenn McGrath (Australia) | Right-arm fast-medium | 71 |
Muthiah Muralidaran (Sri Lanka) | Right-arm offbreak | 68 |
Mitchell Starc (Australia) | Left-arm fast | 59 |
Lasith Malinga (Sri Lanka) | Right-arm fast | 56 |
Wasim Akram (Pakistan) | Left-arm fast | 55 |
Trent Boult (New Zealand) | Left-arm fast-medium | 52 |
(Updated until November 9, 2023)
New Zealand won by 5 wickets (with 160 balls remaining)
Later, in reply, New Zealand reached the target comfortably in 23.2 overs after losing five wickets. Blackcaps not only won that match by five wickets and took the crucial two points, but also finished the game with 160 balls remaining to boost their already solid-looking net run-rate. Their present net run rate (0.743) is an asset for them as it is almost unreachable for the remaining competitors Pakistan (0.036) and Afghanistan (-0.338).
