Cricket Trivia Quiz

Sachin Tendulkar scored the first half-century of IPL 2009 (IPL season 2). The question refers to "first 50" meaning first half-century, not exactly 50 runs. This is a factual IPL record.

India hosted the ICC Champions Trophy 2007 (then known as the ICC Champions Trophy). This was the sixth edition of the tournament, won by Australia. Sri Lanka, England, and South Africa were not hosts in 2007.

Irfan Pathan was awarded Man of the Match in the inaugural ICC T20 World Cup 2007 final between India and Pakistan. He took 3/16 in his 4 overs, including key wickets. While Dhoni was captain and Gambhir scored 75, Pathan's bowling performance earned him the award.

In the Titan Cup final held at Bangalore in 1996/97, India defeated South Africa by 35 runs. Sachin Tendulkar scored a century and was the man of the match in this victory.

Andy Bichel was the Man of the Match in Australia's 2003 World Cup game against New Zealand. He took 3 wickets for 20 runs and scored a valuable 64 runs coming in at number 8, playing a crucial all-round role in Australia's victory.

Courtney Walsh of West Indies indeed holds the record for one of the most economical bowling spells in ODI cricket - 5 wickets for just 1 run. This incredible performance came against Sri Lanka in 1986 and remains a landmark in bowling statistics.

The South African cricket team has lost three ICC tournament semifinals (1999 World Cup vs Australia, 2015 World Cup vs New Zealand, 2022 Champions Trophy vs England). The famous 1992 semifinal loss was before their readmission, and the 2023 World Cup loss was in the quarterfinal stage, not semifinals. Therefore, 3 semifinal exits is the correct count for the post-readmission era.

JP Duminy is the correct answer as he did not score a century in his first Test innings. Azhar Mahmood scored 128 on debut, Mohammad Azharuddin scored 100+ in his first three innings, and Ali Naqvi scored 134 on his Test debut. Duminy scored a fifty but not a century.

Nathan Astle scored the most ODI centuries for New Zealand with 9 centuries. Stephen Fleming had 5, Martin Crowe had 4, and Ross Taylor has more centuries but accumulated them later in his career. At the time this question was likely written, Astle held the record.