• Brett Lee became the fourth bowler after Indian Chetan Sharma (v New Zealand in 1987), Pakistani Saqlain Mushtaq (v Zimbabwe in 1999) and Sri Lankan Chaminda Vaas (v Bangladesh in 2003) to claim a hat-trick in the World Cup.
• Lee now joins Bruce Reid (v New Zealand at Sydney in 1996) and Anthony Stuart (v Pakistan at Melbourne in 1997) to become the third Australian to achieve this feat. He also joins Pakistani Waqar Younis (v New Zealand at East London in 1994) and Sri Lankan Chamida Vaas (v Bangladesh at Pietermaritzburg on February 14 in this World Cup) to become the third bowler to achieve a hat-trick on South African soil.Incidentally Lee’s hat-trick was the 17th in ODI history.
• The partnership of 79 runs between Ravindu Shah and Steve Tikolo was Kenya’s best for the fourth wicket against Australia in ODIs. The pair eclipses the previous best stand of 65 runs between Tikolo and Brijal Patel at Nairobi Gymkhana in 2002.
• The partnership of 49 runs between Tikolo and Hitesh Modi was Kenya’s best for the fifth wicket against Australia in ODIs. The pair obliterates the previous best of 21 runs between Kennedy Obuya and Edward Odumbe at Visakhapatnam in 1996.
• The unbeaten partnership of 30 runs between Modi and Martin Suji was Kenya’s best for the ninth wicket against Australia bettering the previous best of 21 runs between Brijal Patel and Tony Suji at Nairobi Gymkhana in 2002.
• The catch of Tony Suji was Ricky Ponting’s 17th in 26 World Cup matches, which makes him the fielder with most catches in World Cup history. He went past the previous record of 16 catches (in 28 matches) by New Zealander Chris Cairns.
• The catch of Collins Obuya was Adam Gilchrist’s 31st dismissal in 18 matches, which makes him the keeper with most dismissal in all World Cups. He goes past the previous record of 30 dismissals (in 20 matches) by Pakistani Moin Khan. Gilchrist now has 32 dismissals (30ct+2st) in the World Cup.
• The match winning unbeaten partnership of 61 runs between Andrew Symonds and Ian Harvey was Australia’s best for the sixth wicket against Kenya. The previous best was the 40 runs put on between Stuart Law and Ian Healy at Visakhapatnam in 1996.
• Left-arm spinner Aasif Karim’s bowling figures of 8.2-6-7-3 (RpO: 0.84) was the second most economical by any bowler bowling at least 5 overs in a ODI match against Australia. India’s Kapil Dev had figures of 6-2-5-1 (RpO: 0.83) at Perth in 1991. However, Karim’s figures were by far the most economical by any bowler against the Aussies in a World Cup match. South African pace bowler Richard Snell had figures of 9-1-15-0 (RpO: 1.67) at Sydney in the 1992 World Cup.
• This win was Australia’s tenth consecutive victory in the World Cup since its World Cup final win against Pakistan in 1999 at Lord’s. This is a new record by any team in World Cup history eclipsing the previous best of nine wins in a row by West Indies from 7-6-1975 to 23-6-1979.
• Incidentally, this was Australia’s 16th consecutive World Cup match without defeat since 27-5-1999. New Zealand (on 20-5-1999 at Cardiff) and Pakistan (on 23-5-1999 at Leeds) were the last two teams to defeat the Aussies in a World Cup match. Since then the winning sequence was broken when the team was involved in a game that ended in a tie against South Africa at Birmingham on 17-6-1999.
• Playing in his 33rd ODI match, Aasif Karim received his first Man of the Match award of his career.
• At 39 years and 90 days, Aasif Karim became the oldest player ever in World Cup history to win a Man of the Match award. UAE off-spinner Shaukat Dukanwala was the previous record holder at an age of 39 years 40 days when he received his award - against Holland at Lahore in 1996.
• Only three players- Australia’s Bobby Simpson (42 Years 69 Days), England’s Geoff Boycott (40 Y 226 D) and West Indian Clive Lloyd (40 Y 135 D) have won a Man of the Match award at an older age in all ODIs.

(Article: Copyright © 2003 Rajneesh Gupta)