Although England lost their league match against Pakistan by 14 runs, English batsman Joe Root scored the first hundred of World Cup 2019 and entered the record books.
England's Joe Root celebrates after reaching his century during the 2019 Cricket World Cup group stage match between England and Pakistan at Trent Bridge in Nottingham, central England, on June 3, 2019. (Photo by Lindsey PARNABY / AFP)
The sixth match of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 was played between England and Pakistan at Trent Bridge on Monday. Although England lost this match by 14 runs, English batsman Joe Root scored the first hundred of the year’s World Cup and entered the record books.
With his knock of 107, Root has increased the probability of making England the Champions at home. This is because, in the last three World Cups, the player who has scored the first century in the tournament has seen his team go on to lift the trophy.
2015 – Aaron Finch
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In the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015, it was Aaron Finch who had made the first hundred and his team Australia went on to clinch the title for the record fifth time. Finch, in only the second game of the tournament, scored a brilliant 135 against England.
With his knock, Australia put on a match-winning 342 runs on the board and set the tempo for their World Cup-winning campaign.
2011 – Virender Sehwag
It was the opening game of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 which saw Virender Sehwag scoring a massive hundred. Against Bangladesh on a flat Dhaka wicket, Sehwag scored 175 runs.
India ended up scoring 370 runs, while Bangladesh were restricted to 283. That 87 run-victory over Bangladesh and a fantastic display of aggressive batting by Sehwag paved the way for a successful World Cup for India.
2007 – Ricky Ponting
In the 2007 World Cup in West Indies, it was Australia who were crowned the champions. In this tournament too, it was an Australian captain who had scored the first century. Against Scotland, it was the Australian captain Ricky Ponting who made 113.
Australia put on a massive 334 runs while Scotland were restricted to just 131. That was the beginning of the dominant Australian force which emerged in the 2007 World Cup.
Now that Joe Root has scored the first hundred of World Cup 2019, who knows if it is England who will go on to lift the coveted trophy. Only time will tell.
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