Overwhelmed by the ongoing World Cup's success, ICC CEO David Richardson said it has been the most followed cricket event in the history of the game with the India-Australia semifinal drawing the biggest crowd so far.
"This Cricket World Cup has been the most followed and best attended cricket event in history," Richardson said in a statement.
With two double-centuries, seven scores in excess of 150 and 38 centuries, there has been no shortage of batting prowess on display in Australia and New Zealand over the past seven weeks.
And 28 four-wicket hauls, including two hat-tricks, mean the bowlers have played their part, too.
"The pick of the group stage matches from an attendance point of view was the India versus South Africa game on 22 February at the Melbourne Cricket Ground at which there were more than 86,000 people cheering on their respective teams, a phenomenal result given that neither of the host teams were involved," the ICC stated.
Broadcast by 44 licensees, in seven languages across 220 territories, the India-Pakistan group match drew an approximate television audience of more than 288 million in India alone, while the Australia versus England match was watched by 2.1 million people in Australia.
"These numbers provide a tangible measure of the success of the event – this Cricket World Cup has been the most followed and best attended cricket event in history. All over the world, hundreds of millions of fans have been enthralled by the quality of cricket on show, the exploits of the world's top players and the colour of the festival across both host nations," Richardson said.
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