Tosses are considered important in cricket, as captains decide whether to bat or bowl first depending on the condition of the pitch. Overall, only 46% of the teams that won the toss went on to win the game across World Cups. While the toss did not always play a pivotal role in the outcome, it could have been a factor when the nature of the wicket changed during the course of the game.
The table shows a few findings:
- In the first two editions of the World Cup in England, bowling first was the popular choice. Choosing to chase a target was also popular in the 1987, 1992, 1999 and 2007 editions.
- Batting first was a popular choice in 1996, but it was in 2011 that taking first strike was almost the norm. Both these editions were played in Asian conditions.
- Winning the toss isn’t always a good thing. But in the 1983 and 2015 editions, winning the toss paid off a little more than 50% of the time. In 1979 and 1996, teams that won the toss went on to win barely one third of those games
- The 1992 edition, held in Australia and New Zealand, saw 59% of the games won by teams that won the toss. This is the highest of the 12 editions
- In 2019 so far, chasing has been the preferred choice. But teams have lost a higher percentage of games trying to chase a target
The second table below shows what world cup teams chose over the years when they won the toss. The findings based on the table are given below:

- Australia has the highest percentage of win-toss-win-game situations. They have won 32 of the 46 matches (70%) where they won the toss.
- 63% of the time, Australia have chosen to bat first when they won the toss (29 out of 46). Pakistan (64.5% - 20 out of 31) and India (60.0% - 21 out of 35) are the two other strong win-toss-bat-first believers.
- New Zealand (63.4% - 26 out of 41), West Indies (66.7% - 20 out of 30) and Sri Lanka (61.1% - 22 out of 36) have preferred mostly to field first on winning the toss. The Kiwis have won 65% (17 off 26) of the matches where they chose to field.
- Pakistan have won only three of the 11 matches (27%) where they have chosen to field.
Data compiled by Richie Lionell, Gramener Inc.
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