Sixes are the maximum any batter can score in the game of cricket in a legal ball. In ODI World Cups, where pressure is a constant stay in the batting team’s mind, sixes come as a relief. The more it comes, the more the relief.
2015 is the year when the most number of sixes were hit in a World Cup tournament. A total of 463 sixes were hit in that tournament held in Australia.
This article will list down the total number of sixes hit by teams in every ODI World Cup edition so far.
Total Sixes Count – Each World Cup Edition
| WORLD CUP EDITION | HOSTS | 6s | MATCHES |
|---|---|---|---|
| Prudential World Cup 1975 | England | 28 | 15 |
| Prudential World Cup 1979 | England | 28+ | 14 |
| Prudential World Cup 1983 | England | 77+ | 27 |
| Reliance World Cup 1987 | India/Pakistan | 126 | 27 |
| Benson & Hedges World Cup 1992 | Australia/New Zealand | 93 | 39 |
| Wills World Cup 1996 | India/Pakistan/Sri Lanka | 148+ | 36 |
| ICC World Cup 1999 | England/Ireland/Netherlands/Scotland | 153 | 42 |
| ICC World Cup 2003 | Kenya/South Africa/Zimbabwe | 266 | 52 |
| ICC World Cup 2007 | West Indies | 373 | 51 |
| ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 | Bangladesh/India/Sri Lanka | 258 | 49 |
| ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 | Australia/New Zealand | 463 | 48 |
| ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 | England | 357 | 45 |
| ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 | India | 644 | 48 |
Key Stats
Eoin Morgan, in the 2019 World Cup, played a massive innings that included 17 sixes – the record for the highest number of sixes a batsman has hit in an ODI innings.
Chris Gayle’s 22 sixes in 2015 is the highest contribution by a single player to the year’s record 463 sixes. In fact, it is the highest number of maximums any player has hit in a single World Cup edition.
1987 was the first WC edition to see 100+ sixes hit, and 2003 saw the first 200+ sixes count in a World tournament.
We will have to wait and see if the 2023 edition will cross the 300 mark in terms of the number of overall sixes hit. You can check it here.
