(Image source: X.com)
[Saba Sports News] Pakistan pacer Haris Rauf found himself setting an unintended record during the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 match against defending champions England at the Eden Gardes, Kolkata. Despite his commendable performance, claiming threw wickets but conceding 64 runs in 10 overs, Rauf’s efforts came too late as Pakistan had already been knocked out of the tournament by then.
Regrettably, Rauf emerged as a central figure in Pakistan’s disappointing campaign, conceding a total of 533 runs in nine matches throughout the quadrennial event. This places him in the record books for giving away the most runs in a single edition of the ODI World Cup.
Notably, Rauf surpassed England’s Adil Rashid on the list, who had previously set the record by conceding 526 runs in 11 matches during the last World Cup (2019) edition in England.
Joining the ranks of bowlers who leaked 500 plus runs in a single World Cup edition were Mitchell Starc, the left-arm Australian pacer who gave away 502 runs in 10 matches during the 2019 World Cup. Mustafizur Rahman, the Bangladesh pacer, conceded 484 runs in eight matches in 2019.
Looking back at previous editions, New Zealand pacers Trent Boult and Tim Southee are at the fifth and sixth positions on the list of most runs conceded by a bowler in a World Cup. In 2019, Boult, a left-arm Kiwi fast-bowler, conceded 479 runs in 10 matches, while Southee leaked away 472 runs in nine games in 2015.
Adding another unwanted record to his name, Rauf also conceded 16 sixes in nine matches in the 2023 World Cup, surpassing Zimbabwe’s Tinashe Panyangara, who had given away 15 sixes during the 2015 edition of the event.
Summing up the match, England posted a huge total of 337 runs at the loss of nine wickets while batting first. In a bid to qualify for the semi-finals, Pakistan aimed to chase down the target in just 6.4 overs, an impossible task. England’s formidable bowling lineup made it even more challenging as Pakistan not only failed to qualify for the knockouts but also lost the match by 93 runs, getting all-out for 244 in 43.3 overs.