"I 100% believe we are the best team in the tournament here", South African captain AB de Villiers told AFP. AB de Villiers may have proclaimed South Africa as the team to beat but it is Sri Lanka, with their formidable batting line-up that is the one to beat.
AB de Villiers may have scored a record breaking 162 against West Indies. Chris Gayle may have scored the first double century in a World Cup. Many batting records may have been demolished. But Sri Lankan vice-captain Kumar Sangakkara is quietly performing and breaking records on his own.
What makes it specially poignant is that the 37-year-old wicketkeeper has already announced retirement from One-Day International and Twenty-20 cricket. He quit the shortest format after winning the World T20 in 2014 and has announced that he will not play ODIs after the ongoing World Cup. He has also confirmed that he will retire from Test cricket "by the end of August" when Sri Lanka hosts India in a three-match series.
World Cup 2015
In Sri Lanka’s last Pool A game against an already eliminated Scottish team, Sangakkara became the first cricketer ever to score four consecutive One-Day International centuries in a brilliant knock of 124 runs in only 95 balls, with 13 fours and four sixes. This helped Sri Lanka post 363-9 in their 50 overs, which is the highest total by any team against Scotland besting Australia’s 362-3 back in 2013.
Sangakkara has also become the first visiting player to score five ODI centuries in Australia and the first Sri Lankan to score five ODI centuries in a country outside of Sri Lanka.
Sangakkara is the first player to score 1,000 ODI runs in 2015. He was the first to do so in 2014 as well, achieving that feat on March 3.
Along with this, Sangakkara has also become the first Sri Lankan to score 400 plus runs in two separate World Cups – 465 runs in 2011 and 496 runs in 2015.
He also recently passed 14,000 ODI runs and is second on the all-time list, just behind Sachin Tendulkar with 18426 runs.
Sangakkara is third on the all-time aggregate in the World Cups, having only played four World Cups. He is right behind Sachin Tendulkar and Ricky Ponting. He is also the only current player in the top five.
Sangakkara, having only played six matches so far this World Cup, is eighth on the list of most runs in a single edition of the World Cup, right behind Scott Styris and Tillakaratne Dilshan.
Sangakkara has been a part of three of the top ten biggest partnerships in this World Cup, two of those three being over 200.
Sangakkara has now surpassed Mark Waugh, Matthew Hayden and Sourav Ganguly, each having scored three centuries in a World Cup before.
Sangakkara has hit a total of five centuries in World Cups, four being in the 2015 World Cup alone and is right behind Tendulkar in most centuries in World Cup history.
All the above is just in World Cups. Sangakkara also has the most runs, most number of 50s and joint most hundreds since the turn of the century. He averages 40.73 against the top eight teams since 2000. Only AB de Villiers (54.90), Mahendra Singh Dhoni (50.11), Virat Kohli (49.57) and Tendulkar (46.1) are above him.
Sangakkara also has the most boundaries to his name in the ongoing World Cup by a fair margin.
A feat that has been lost amidst Sangakkara's four consecutive World Cup centuries is a non-batting record that Sangakkara made today: he now has the most dismissals by a wicket-keeper in World Cup history.
AB de Villiers may have scored a record breaking 162 against West Indies. Chris Gayle may have scored the first double century in a World Cup. Many batting records may have been demolished. But Sri Lankan vice-captain Kumar Sangakkara is quietly performing and breaking records on his own.
What makes it specially poignant is that the 37-year-old wicketkeeper has already announced retirement from One-Day International and Twenty-20 cricket. He quit the shortest format after winning the World T20 in 2014 and has announced that he will not play ODIs after the ongoing World Cup. He has also confirmed that he will retire from Test cricket "by the end of August" when Sri Lanka hosts India in a three-match series.
World Cup 2015
In Sri Lanka’s last Pool A game against an already eliminated Scottish team, Sangakkara became the first cricketer ever to score four consecutive One-Day International centuries in a brilliant knock of 124 runs in only 95 balls, with 13 fours and four sixes. This helped Sri Lanka post 363-9 in their 50 overs, which is the highest total by any team against Scotland besting Australia’s 362-3 back in 2013.
Sangakkara has also become the first visiting player to score five ODI centuries in Australia and the first Sri Lankan to score five ODI centuries in a country outside of Sri Lanka.
Sangakkara is the first player to score 1,000 ODI runs in 2015. He was the first to do so in 2014 as well, achieving that feat on March 3.
Along with this, Sangakkara has also become the first Sri Lankan to score 400 plus runs in two separate World Cups – 465 runs in 2011 and 496 runs in 2015.
He also recently passed 14,000 ODI runs and is second on the all-time list, just behind Sachin Tendulkar with 18426 runs.
Sangakkara is third on the all-time aggregate in the World Cups, having only played four World Cups. He is right behind Sachin Tendulkar and Ricky Ponting. He is also the only current player in the top five.
Sangakkara, having only played six matches so far this World Cup, is eighth on the list of most runs in a single edition of the World Cup, right behind Scott Styris and Tillakaratne Dilshan.
Sangakkara has been a part of three of the top ten biggest partnerships in this World Cup, two of those three being over 200.
Sangakkara has now surpassed Mark Waugh, Matthew Hayden and Sourav Ganguly, each having scored three centuries in a World Cup before.
Sangakkara has hit a total of five centuries in World Cups, four being in the 2015 World Cup alone and is right behind Tendulkar in most centuries in World Cup history.
All the above is just in World Cups. Sangakkara also has the most runs, most number of 50s and joint most hundreds since the turn of the century. He averages 40.73 against the top eight teams since 2000. Only AB de Villiers (54.90), Mahendra Singh Dhoni (50.11), Virat Kohli (49.57) and Tendulkar (46.1) are above him.
Sangakkara also has the most boundaries to his name in the ongoing World Cup by a fair margin.
A feat that has been lost amidst Sangakkara's four consecutive World Cup centuries is a non-batting record that Sangakkara made today: he now has the most dismissals by a wicket-keeper in World Cup history.
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