The three figure mark is such a coveted figure in cricket; so much so that batsmen tend to become nervous once they get into the 90s.
Not so much in limited over internationals, though. There were 521 instances from 3,613 ODI matches of batsmen remaining either unbeaten in the 90s or dismissed in the 90s, before the ICC World Cup matches between Afghanistan and Scotland, and Sri Lanka and Bangladesh on Thursday.
Afghanistan’s Samiullah Shenwari provided the 522nd instance in ODI history and more importantly the 50th instance in a World Cup competition to finish in the 90s (96, 147 balls, 7 x 4s, 5 x 6s).
The 28-year-old would have been less disappointed at not becoming the first Afghanistan batsman to score a century, as his valuable contribution helped his team notch its first win in the competition against Scotland at Dunedin.
Shenwari became the second batsman in the ongoing World Cup to see his innings end in the 90s, although it must be said that England’s James Taylor was probably denied a real chance of scoring his maiden World Cup century against Australia at Melbourne on February 14 because of the on-field umpire’s appalling interpretation of the laws of the game and declaring James Anderson run out of the fifth ball of the 42nd over.
There are four instances of World Cup debut 90s; India’s Sourav Ganguly was dismissed for 97 against South Africa in the World Cup match of 1999 at Hove, New Zealand’s Martin Crowe was dismissed for 97 against England in the World Cup match of 1983 at The Oval, England’s Robin Smith was dismissed for 91 against India in the World Cup match of1992 at Perth and of course the recent case was of England’s James Taylor; stranded as he was on 98.
World Cup 90s before Samiullah Shenwari's 96 against Scotland at Dunedin on Thursday
S.No | Player | Score | For | Versus | Venue | Date | BF | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Gilchrist | AC | 99 | Aus | SL | Centurion Park | 07 Mar 2003 | 88 |
2 | Duminy | J-P | 99 | RSA | Ire | Kolkata | 15 Mar 2011 | 103 |
3 | Obuya | CO | 98* | Ken | Aus | Bangalore | 13 Mar 2011 | 129 |
4 | Taylor | JWA | 98 | Eng | Aus | Melbourne | 14 Feb 2015 | 90 |
5 | Tendulkar | SR | 98 | Ind | Pak | Centurion Park | 01 Mar 2003 | 75 |
6 | Taibu | T | 98 | Zim | Can | Nagpur(V) | 28 Feb 2011 | 99 |
7 | Ganguly | SC | 97 | Ind | RSA | Hove | 15 May 1999 | 142 |
8 | Tendulkar | SR | 97 | Ind | SL | Wanderers | 10 Mar 2003 | 120 |
9 | Zaheer Abbas | 97 | Pak | SL | Trent Bridge | 14 Jun 1975 | 89 | |
10 | Crowe | MD | 97 | NZ | Eng | The Oval | 09 Jun 1983 | 119 |
11 | Gambhir | G | 97 | Ind | SL | Wankhede | 02 Apr 2011 | 122 |
12 | Kallis | JH | 96 | RSA | Ind | Hove | 15 May 1999 | 128 |
13 | Tikolo | SO | 96 | Ken | SL | Kandy | 06 Mar 1996 | 95 |
14 | Richards | IVA | 95* | WI | Aus | Lord's | 18 Jun 1983 | 117 |
15 | Pollard | KA | 94 | WI | Ire | Mohali | 11 Mar 2011 | 55 |
16 | Watson | SR | 94 | Aus | Can | Bangalore | 16 Mar 2011 | 90 |
17 | Clarke | MJ | 93* | Aus | Net | Basseterre | 18 Mar 2007 | 85 |
18 | Haynes | DL | 93 | WI | Pak | Melbourne | 23 Feb 1992 | 144 |
19 | Richardson | RB | 93* | WI | Aus | Jaipur | 04 Mar 1996 | 133 |
20 | Sidhu | NS | 93 | Ind | Pak | Bangalore | 09 Mar 1996 | 115 |
21 | Clarke | MJ | 93 | Aus | Ken | Bangalore | 13 Mar 2011 | 80 |
22 | Zaheer Abbas | 93 | Pak | WI | The Oval | 20 Jun 1979 | 122 | |
23 | Boon | DC | 93 | Aus | Zim | Cuttack | 30 Oct 1987 | 101 |
24 | Azharuddin | M | 93 | Ind | Aus | Brisbane (Gab) | 01 Mar 1992 | 103 |
25 | Richardson | RB | 93 | WI | Eng | Jaipur | 26 Oct 1987 | 129 |
26 | Gower | DI | 92* | Eng | NZ | Edgbaston | 15 Jun 1983 | 97 |
27 | Sangakkara | KC | 92 | SL | Can | Hambantota | 20 Feb 2011 | 87 |
28 | Twose | RG | 92 | NZ | UAE | Faisalabad | 27 Feb 1996 | 112 |
29 | Trott | IJL | 92 | Eng | Ire | Bangalore | 02 Mar 2011 | 92 |
30 | Gooch | GA | 92 | Eng | WI | Jaipur | 26 Oct 1987 | 137 |
31 | Stirling | PR | 92 | Ire | WI | Nelson | 16 Feb 2015 | 84 |
32 | Clarke | MJ | 92 | Aus | RSA | Basseterre | 24 Mar 2007 | 75 |
33 | Sarwan | RR | 92 | WI | RSA | Queen's Park 2 | 10 Apr 2007 | 75 |
34 | de Villiers | AB | 92 | RSA | Aus | Basseterre | 24 Mar 2007 | 70 |
35 | de Silva | PA | 92 | SL | Aus | Centurion Park | 07 Mar 2003 | 94 |
36 | Symonds | A | 91* | Aus | SL | Pt Elizabeth | 18 Mar 2003 | 118 |
37 | Dhoni | MS | 91* | Ind | SL | Wankhede | 02 Apr 2011 | 79 |
38 | Sarwan | RR | 91* | WI | Ban | Bridgetown | 19 Apr 2007 | 90 |
39 | Smith | RA | 91 | Eng | Ind | Perth | 22 Feb 1992 | 108 |
40 | de Silva | PA | 91 | SL | Zim | Colombo (SSC) | 21 Feb 1996 | 86 |
41 | Ponting | RT | 91 | Aus | RSA | Basseterre | 24 Mar 2007 | 91 |
42 | Crowe | MD | 91 | NZ | Pak | Auckland | 21 Mar 1992 | 83 |
43 | Smith | GC | 91 | RSA | Sco | Basseterre | 20 Mar 2007 | 65 |
44 | Gibbs | HH | 91 | RSA | NZ | Edgbaston | 10 Jun 1999 | 118 |
45 | Collingwood | PD | 90 | Eng | Ire | Providence | 30 Mar 2007 | 82 |
46 | Jones | DM | 90 | Aus | Ind | Brisbane (Gab) | 01 Mar 1992 | 109 |
47 | Kirsten | PN | 90 | RSA | NZ | Auckland | 29 Feb 1992 | 129 |
48 | Greenidge | CG | 90 | WI | Aus | Lord's | 18 Jun 1983 | 140 |
49 | Tendulkar | SR | 90 | Ind | Aus | Wankhede | 27 Feb 1996 | 84 |