ICC World Cup recap: Top five batsmen with most World Cup fifties

NEW DELHI: The ICC Cricket World Cup starts May 30 in England and Wales and with the quadrennial event scheduled to take place at the ‘home of cricket’ this summer, a run fest is expected in batting friendly conditions throughout the tenure of the tournament.
FULL SCHEDULE: ICC World Cup 2019
ALSO READ: ICC World Cup Venues - 11 stadiums, 48 matches, 46 days
In the recent history of ODI cricket, the record of highest total has been broken twice by England in England.The English, in 2016 scored 444/3 against Pakistan and then broke their own record, amassing a mind boggling 481/6 against a depleted Australian attack in 2018.
The key to a big total (in ODIs) often lies with the top three in any team registering three figure scores. However, along with that a brisk half-century or a combination of a few of them also helps the teams get to gigantic totals.
TimesofIndia.com takes a look at the record of most number of half-centuries scored by batsmen in cricket’s biggest showpiece event across all eleven editions played so far.
Sachin Tendulkar, India (15)
India's Sachin Tendulkar is on top of the table, when it comes to the record of most half-centuries at the World Cup. Sachin has 15 World Cup fifties to his name in 45 matches played across six World Cups from 1992 to 2011.

Among the 15 half-centuries that Sachin recorded against ten countries, the most memorable from the little master was perhaps the one scored in the 2003 World Cup match against Pakistan in Centurion, where he fell for 98, but built a strong foundation for India to register a six-wicket win over the arch-rivals.
During his overall run at the World Cup (2278 runs at an average close to 57), Sachin scored three fifties against Pakistan, two each against Australia, Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe and one each against New Zealand, West Indies, Netherlands, England, Kenya and Bermuda. To go with that, Sachin also scored six centuries in the World Cup overall.
Jacques Kallis, South Africa (9)
One of the greatest all-rounders of all time, South Africa’s Jacques Kallis sits in second place on the list of most fifties scored by a batsman at the ICC Cricket World Cup.

During his international cricket career, that spanned 18 years, Kallis represented South Africa in five World Cups from 1996 to 2011. During this period, Kallis scored 9 fifties in 36 matches for the Proteas. To go with that, Kallis also scored an unbeaten ton (128*) against the Netherlands in 2007 and also took 21 wickets in the five editions of the World Cup.
Kallis scored a couple of fifties against India and one each against Pakistan, New Zealand, West Indies, Australia, Sri Lanka, Ireland and Bangladesh.
Graham Gooch, England (8)
One of the most successful international batsmen of his generation, England's Graham Gooch is third on the list of batsmen with most number of fifties at the ICC Cricket World Cup.

Gooch scored eight half-centuries in 21 matches he played for England in three World Cup appearances in 1979, 1987 and 1992. The swashbuckling right-hander amassed 897 runs at an average of 44.85, that also included a ton (115) against India during the 1987 World Cup in India.
Out of the eight fifties that Gooch scored at the World Cup, two each were scored against West Indies, Australia and Sri Lanka. Against India and New Zealand Gooch scored one fifty plus score each.
Martin Crowe, New Zealand (8)
Regarded as New Zealand’s greatest batsman of all time, Martin David Crowe’s heroics during the 1992 World Cup are well documented.
With 448 runs in 9 matches of the 1992 edition of the tournament, Crowe almost single handedly took the Kiwis into the semis, where the team lost to the eventual winners, Pakistan. Crowe finished the tournament as the competition's leading run-scorer and was named player of the tournament.

In the three World Cups (1983, 1987 and 1992) that Crowe represented New Zealand in, the flamboyant right-hander scored eight half-centuries in 21 matches. Three of these eight fifties were scored against Zimbabwe while two were scored against England. He also scored one fifty plus score each against Pakistan, West Indies and Australia.
Herschelle Gibbs, South Africa (8)
Going after the bowlers from the word go was the mantra for South African opener Herschelle Gibbs and that made him one of the most successful Protea batsmen of all time. Even in pressure matches of the World Cup, Gibbs, with his dynamic stroke play terrorized the opposition bowlers.

In his 25 matches at cricket’s showpiece event, Gibbs scored eight half-centuries and often provided his team with a flying start. With a batting average of over 56, 1076 runs with a highest score of 143 Gibbs has been one of the most successful batsmen for South Africa in the World Cup. Gibbs represented South Africa in three editions of the World Cup (1999, 2003 and 2007) before retiring from international cricket in May 2010.
* Australia's Michael Clarke, Kenya's Steve Tikolo, India's Mohammad Azharuddin, Australia's Adam Gilchrist and Javed Miandad from Pakistan also have eight fifties to their name at the World Cup.