Here are some 'firsts' from the ICC cricket world cup, held since 1975. Also see World Cup Trivia.
- The FIRST world cup was held in 1975 in England.
- The FIRST world cup held outside England was in 1987, the tournament held in India and Pakistan.
- The FIRST time day/night matches was used was in 1992.
- The FIRST tournament to use white cricket balls and colored team uniforms was 1992.
- The FIRST tournament to feature an African Test nation, South Africa, was in 1992 (though a team from East Africa competed in the first tournament in 1975).
- The FIRST hat-trick at the World Cup was by Indian Chetan Sharma in a game against New Zealand in 1987
- The FIRST tournament held in the Southern hemisphere was 1992, when it was co-hosted in Australia and New Zealand.
- The FIRST time a tournament host or co-host won the cricket World Cup was Sri Lanka in 1996.
- The FIRST World Cup match involving a tie was the second semi-final of the 1999 tournament when Australia played South Africa.
- The FIRST team to remain undefeated throughout the whole tournament was Australia in 2003. They repeated this feat in the 2007 tournament.
- The FIRST non-Test playing nation to reach the semi-finals was Kenya in 2007, helped by a forfeit by New Zealand due to security concerns.
- The FIRST hat-trick plus one (4 wickets in 4 balls) was by Sri Lankan Lasith Malinga against South Africa (Super Eights: South Africa v Sri Lanka at Providence, Mar 28, 2007)
- The FIRST World Cup to be contested without all of the Test playing nations being present was in 2019 (the tournament was reduced to 10 teams, while Test playing nations have increased to 12)
- The FIRST World Cup to feature no Associate members was in 2019, after the elimination of all the Associate teams at the qualifying tournament.
Related Pages
Any comments, suggestions, or corrections? Please let us know.