The ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 group stage has provided us with some great entertainment and moments in the 45 matches played. The tournament got underway with a replay of the 2019 final between current World Cup holders England being defeated comfortably by New Zealand. India on home soil look formidable, winning all 9 matches they have played and looking to win their first ICC Cricket World Cup since 2011.
Here’s a look at all the table-toppers, stats and records from the group stage of the World Cup:
ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 Match Results
As mentioned previously, the Indian national cricket team won all 9 of their matches which left them top of the table by 4 points. In their semi final, they will play 4th place New Zealand who started in fantastic form as they won their opening 4 matches before losing the next 4 and confirming their place in the knockout phase of the tournament with a win over Sri Lanka in their last match.
The South Africa national cricket team has been a surprise package as they finished 2nd with 7 wins and 2 losses. This includes some shock victories over Australia, New Zealand and England; however they did also suffer a shock of their own to the hands of the Netherlands cricket national team. The Proteas will face Australia in the other semi final, who had a remarkable turnaround after losing their opening 2 matches, they won their last 7 games to finish 3rd.
The Netherlands cricket team recorded history as they played in their first ever ICC Cricket World Cup. Although they finished bottom of the group, they recorded famous victories over South Africa and Bangladesh.
Highest Run Scorers ICC Cricket World Cup 2023
Virat Kohli (IND) looks to be back to his best in this tournament as he finished the group stage as the top scoring batsmen with 594. This includes a top score of 103* and an incredible average of 99.00.
Quinton De Kock (SA) was just 3 runs behind Kohli with 591 runs. De Kock blasted a sublime 174 runs in 140 balls against Bangladesh. However this was only the 3rd highest score, behind Mitch Marsh (AUS) who scored 177* vs Bangladesh and Glen Maxwell (AUS) who scored a magnificent 201* whilst injured vs Afghanistan.
Indian captain Rohit Sharma has hit the most sixes in the tournament so far with 24 which is followed by Glen Maxwell with 22 and Quinton De Kock with 21.
Most Wickets ICC Cricket World Cup 2023
Spin bowler Adam Zampa (AUS) leads the way with the most wickets in the group stage with a total of 22 wickets. Sri Lankan cricket team left arm fast medium bowler Dilshan Madushanka was the second highest wicket taker with 21 and South Africa’s Gerland Coetzee was third with 18 wickets from just 7 matches.
The best bowling performance of the group stage has got to go to India’s Mohammed Shami who took 5 wickets for 18 runs from just 5 overs vs Sri Lanka. This was one of the most crushing victories we saw as Sri Lanka actually won the toss and decided to bowl. India put a very respectable score of 357/8 on the board and bowled out Sri Lanka for just 55 from 19.4 overs.
ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 Semi Finals
The first semi final will see favourites India take on New Zealand on Wednesday, this is a repeat of the 2019 World Cup semi final where New Zealand came out victorious. However the form India have been in alongside the home advantage will make it an outside shot for New Zealand to progress to the final this time round.
The other semi final between South Africa and Australia looks like a tough one to call. In the group stage, South Africa comfortably beat the Aussies by 134 runs with star batsman Quinton De Kock hitting 109 runs. De Kock is no stranger to Indian pitches as he has played for many IPL teams, most recently being the Lucknow Super Giants. Since that game however, the Australian cricket national team went on a 7 win streak to finish level on points with the Proteas.
We will be covering both semi finals and final in a round up on Cricket Today so stay tuned and good luck to all involved!
