• Abdool Samad was making his international debut for Canada. He became the 28th player to appear for Canada in ODIs.
• John Davison, who has a 67-ball hundred (the fastest in World Cup history) against West Indies at Centurion on February 23, almost repeated the feat of scoring the quickest fifty in the World Cup. However he fell short of West Indian Brian Lara’s record of the 23-ball fifty against Canada at Centurion on February 23. The Canadian reached his fifty in 25 balls.
• Davison’s effort was the second quickest fifty by any batsman against New Zealand. Pakistani Shahid Afridi had made a 24-ball fifty at Sharjah in 2001.
• Later in the match, Davison became the only third all-rounder in World Cup history to score a 75-plus and take three wickets in same match. Sri Lankan Aravinda deSilva (107 not out, 3-42 v Australia at Lahore in 1996) and Zimbabwean Neil Johnson (76, 3-27 v South Africa at Chelmsford in 1999) are the only others to do so in the World Cup.
• The partnership of 23 runs between Barry Seebaran and Ashish Patel was the best for the tenth wicket at this ground bettering the 17 run stand between Pakistanis Mushtaq Ahmed and Waqar Younis against Sri Lanka in 1998.
• Chris Harris (38 not out) when on 12, became the fourth New Zealander and the 50th batsman overall in ODIs to aggregate 4000 runs. Harris now has 4026 runs in 222 matches.
• By taking 222 matches to reach this landmark, Harris became the ‘slowest’ batsman to do so in ODIs. Australia’s Steve Waugh, the previous record holder, had taken 190 matches to complete his 4000 runs.
• Harris, with 194 wickets to his credit, also becomes the fifth all-rounder in ODI history to do the double of 4000 runs and 150 wickets. The others being Sri Lankan Sanath Jayasuriya (8914, 239 in 293 matches), Australian Steve Waugh (7569 runs, 195 wickets in 325 matches), South African Jacques Kallis (5965 runs, 167 wickets in 174 matches) and West Indian Carl Hooper (5755 runs, 193 wickets in 226 matches)
• The unbeaten 83 run partnership between Scott Styris and Chris Harris was New Zealand’s best for the sixth wicket in the World Cup. The same pair had previously held the record when they had put on 56 runs against Sri Lanka at Bloemfontein on February 10.
• The above partnership was also the best for the sixth wicket at this ground. South Africans Jacques Kallis and Shaun Pollock had put on 81 runs against Sri Lanka in 2002.
• New Zealand’s 197-5 in 23 overs provided the third best scoring rate (RpO: 8.56) by a team in ODIs. West Indies during its innings of 206-3 (in 20.3 overs) against Canada on February 23, had a run rate of 10.05 runs per over, while Australia (181-3 in 19.5 overs) had a run-rate of 9.13 against Bangladesh at Chester-le-Street on 27-5-1999.
• New Zealand’s 100 came in only 11.1 overs. This is their fastest 100 in all ODIs.
• Codrington, by conceding 33 runs in his two overs, recorded the most expensive figures by any bowler in a two-over spell in a World Cup match. Holland’s Eric Gouka ,with figures of 2-0-32-1 against South Africa at Rawalpindi in 1996, was the previous record holder.
• The victory with 27 overs (or 162 balls) to spare was New Zealand’s biggest in a fifty over match while chasing a target over 150 runs. The Kiwis (162-6) had won by with 17.4 overs (106 balls) to spare against India at Napier in 1995 chasing a target of 160 runs.

(Article: Copyright © 2003 Rajneesh Gupta)