Half-centuries in T20s showcase a batsman’s ability to build useful innings for his team in the quickest of environments. Only some batters can produce such efforts consistently.
There are other few who have reached more in one calendar year. But that is a topic for another blog.
In World Cup games, where the pressure is at its peak, it takes a champion’s intent and skill to contribute to a team with 50+ scores. This blog is about those champions who have managed to score the fifties in bulk in one edition of the T20 World Cup.
This article lists the players who scored 3 or more fifty-plus in a single Men’s T20 World Cup edition.
Most 50+ Scores in a Single T20 WC Edition
| BATSMAN | 50+ SCORES | YEAR | INNINGS | RUNS SCORED | HIGH SCORE |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Matthew Hayden (AUS) | 4 | 2007 | 6 | 265 | 73* |
| Virat Kohli (IND) | 4 | 2014 | 6 | 319 | 77 |
| Babar Azam (PAK) | 4 | 2021 | 6 | 303 | 70 |
| Virat Kohli (IND) | 4 | 2022 | 6 | 296 | 82* |
| Gautam Gambhir (IND) | 3 | 2007 | 6 | 227 | 75 |
| Tillakaratne Dilshan (SL) | 3 | 2009 | 7 | 317 | 96* |
| Mahela Jayawardene (SL) | 3 | 2010 | 6 | 302 | 100 |
| Chris Gayle (WI) | 3 | 2012 | 6 | 222 | 75* |
| Marlon Samuels (WI) | 3 | 2012 | 6 | 230 | 78 |
| Shane Watson (AUS) | 3 | 2012 | 6 | 249 | 72 |
| Stephan Myburgh (NED) | 3 | 2014 | 7 | 224 | 63 |
| Virat Kohli (IND) | 3 | 2016 | 5 | 273 | 89* |
| Mohammad Rizwan (PAK) | 3 | 2021 | 6 | 281 | 79* |
| Pathum Nissanka (SL) | 3 | 2021 | 8 | 221 | 72 |
| KL Rahul (IND) | 3 | 2021 | 5 | 194 | 69 |
| David Warner (AUS) | 3 | 2021 | 7 | 289 | 89* |
| Suryakumar Yadav IND) | 3 | 2022 | 6 | 239 | 68 |
Key Stats
Matthew Hayden, Virat Kohli, & Babar Azam are the only three players to accumulate three 50+ scores in a T20 World Cup edition. All three players took 6 innings to achieve this mark. Virat, 319 runs in 2014, is the highest-ever scorer in a single WC tournament. You can find the top ten list here.
2021 is the best year for batters, with five finding their place in the list above.
Babar Azam became the 4th player to score 300+ runs in a single WC edition in 2021. You can find the year-by-year top run scorer in the tournament in this blog.
Interestingly, only Mahela Jayawardene in the above list has been the only player to score a century in that edition.
