Maxi Makes ICC Cricket World Cup History
And not just for concussing himself by falling off a golf cart
Glenn Maxwell now holds the record for the greatest individual contribution to a team’s overall score in an ICC Cricket World Cup match.
His 201* versus Afghanistan last month (128 balls, 21 fours, and ten sixes) accounted for 68.3% of Australia’s 293 runs, surpassing Marin Atapattu’s 64.9% (24 of 37 runs when Sri Lanka defeated Canada by nine wickets in 2003).
Table: Top Ten Individual Score Contributions in ICC Cricket World Cup Matches, 2003-2023
| Rank | Player | Runs | Team Score | % | Opponent | Batting |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | GJ Maxwell | 201 | 293 | 68.6 | AFG | Second |
| 2 | MS Atapattu | 24 | 37 | 64.9 | CAN | Second |
| 3 | Fakhar Zaman | 126 | 200 | 63.0 | NZ | Second |
| 4 | CH Gayle | 37 | 59 | 62.7 | BAN | Second |
| 5 | SB Styris | 141 | 225 | 62.7 | SL | Second |
| 6 | BB McCullum | 77 | 125 | 61.6 | ENG | Second |
| 7 | HH Gibbs | 87 | 142 | 61.3 | KEN | Second |
| 8 | MJ Guptill | 237 | 393 | 60.3 | WI | First |
| 9 | Q de Kock | 17 | 29 | 58.6 | WI | First |
| 10 | SP Fleming | 134 | 229 | 58.5 | SA | Second |
I find it interesting that eight of the top ten listed above happened in the second innings. The two exceptions are:
- Martin Guptill’s 237* off 163 in a 2015 quarter final against the West Indies, and
- Quinton de Kock’s 17 of 29 in a 2019 match against the West Indies was rained out after 7.3 overs.
Maxi’s knock in the World Cup is sits thirteenth across all ODIs since 2002 (in terms of individual contribution to the team’s total score), well behind Brendan McCullum’s 80* of 94 runs versus Bangladesh in 2007 – a whopping 84.2%.
Shane Watson holds the Australian ODI record for an individual contribution to the team’s overall score, with his 185* accounting for __79.7%__ of Australia’s 232 in a nine-wicket win over Bangladesh in 2011.
The timeframe of this stat is limited based on what data are freely/easily available and/or accessible. Please don’t hesitate to contact me if you spot any errors in what I have presented. As always, apologies to anyone who has already looked at this stat.