While the cricket calendar can be packed with international matches, in any given format, the most important fixture in the sport is arguably the final of an ICC tournament. 4 ICC tournaments are primarily played across the three formats, the World Cup, Champions Trophy, T20 World Cup and World Test Championship.
In all these multi-national tourneys, the final match is the marquee contest, and like any other sport, it is a pressure outing for everybody involved. Hence performing in these games needs more than skills and that is temperament, be it a batter or bowler. At the biggest stage, we have seen the best of batters faltering and at the same time, legendary have stepped up when needed the most, be it through a match-winning century in the ODI tourneys or a quick-fire knock in the T20 World Cup or match-defining Test innings in the WTC final.
Here are the batters with the most runs across different formats in an ICC tournament final.
Most Runs in ICC Finals
| Player | Inns | Total Runs | ODI WC | T20 WC | CT | WTC |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Virat Kohli (IND) | 11 | 411 | 89 | 153 | 48 | 120 |
| Rohit Sharma (IND) | 11 | 322 | 47 | 68 | 76 | 122 |
| Kumar Sangakkara (SL) | 7 | 320 | 102 | 138 | 80 | – |
| Travis Head (AUS) | 3 | 318 | 137 | – | – | 181 |
| Mahela Jayawardene (SL) | 7 | 270 | 122 | 58 | 90 | – |
| Adam Gilchrist (AUS) | 4 | 262 | 260 | – | 2 | – |
| Ricky Ponting (AUS) | 6 | 247 | 246 | – | 1 | – |
| Kane Williamson (NZ) | 6 | 239 | 42 | 85 | 11 | 101 |
| Steven Smith (AUS) | 5 | 216 | 60 | 1 | – | 155 |
| Ajinkya Rahane (IND) | 5 | 202 | – | 3 | – | 199 |
More “ICC Tournaments” Records
Most Runs as Captain in ICC Tournaments
Most Runs in Knock-Out Matches of ICC Tournaments
Highest Batting Average in ICC Tournaments
Most Fifties in ICC Tournaments
Most Fifties in Knock-Out Matches of ICC Tournaments
Most Centuries in ICC Tournaments
Most Centuries in Knock-Out Matches of ICC Tournaments
Most Wickets in ICC Tournaments
Most Wickets in in Knock-Out Matches of ICC Tournaments
Most Man of the Match Awards in ICC
Most Wins by Players in ICC Tournaments
Key Stats
14 batters have scored a century in an ICC final match and only Travis Head of Australia has done it twice. The left-hander has struck a century each in the final of the ICC World Cup and World Test Championship, both coming against India. Head also holds the record for the highest individual score in a Pink-ball Test match in this decade.
Head’s 163 in the ICC WTC final versus India remains the highest score by a batter in an ICC tournament finale game. His average of 106.00 is also the best amongst the players with 200 or more in an ICC final.
Kumar Sangakkara of Sri Lanka has the most fifty-plus scores in an ICC final. While he hasn’t made a century, the legendary left-hander has struck four half-centuries in the 7 times he has batted in an ICC final. Check where he stands when you also include the Quarter-finals and Semi-finals of the contests.
36 batters have crossed the aggregate of 100 runs in the ICC final and among them, Ravindra Jadeja’s 19.71 is the lowest average for a player with more than 100 runs (138).
Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma have batted the most times in an ICC tournament finals (10 innings each), with Kohli being the highest run-getter (410 runs at an average of 41.00).
On the other extreme, 50 batters have returned with a duck at least once in the ICC final game across formats and 3 have scored a duck in the ICC final game twice each. Brendon McCullum, TM Dilshan, and Jasprit Bumrah have departed for a duck more than once in this type of ICC knockout game.
Check: The Top 10 All-Rounders of All Time
