Kumar Sangakkara scored four consecutive centuries in the 2015 World Cup — against Bangladesh, England, Australia, and Scotland — the first batsman ever to score centuries in four consecutive matches in a World Cup, in what proved to be his farewell tournament.
Kumar Sangakkara was playing his final World Cup at 37 years old. He had already been one of the tournament's dominant batsmen in 2007 and 2011. This was his goodbye to the World Cup stage, and he chose to make it the most statistically extraordinary farewell in the tournament's history.
Sri Lanka were defending their 2014 T20 World Cup title. Sangakkara opened the batting and in the group stage began accumulating centuries with a quiet relentlessness. After three centuries in a row, the cricket world began to ask: could he make four?
Against Bangladesh (105*), against England (117), against Australia (104), against Scotland (124). Four hundreds in four consecutive World Cup matches — nobody had done it before. Nobody has done it since.
Sangakkara eventually reached 541 runs in 9 innings at an average of 90.16 — the second-highest aggregate in a single World Cup (after Sachin's 673 in 2003). Sri Lanka reached the quarter-finals before losing to South Africa.
After the tournament, Sangakkara retired from ODIs. He played his last Test series and then retired entirely from international cricket, finishing with 12,400 Test runs and 14,234 ODI runs — one of the two or three greatest batsmen of the 21st century.
First century vs Bangladesh — the sequence begins
Third century vs Australia — the world notices the pattern
Fourth century vs Scotland — four consecutive World Cup centuries, first in history
February 2015
Century vs Bangladesh — first of the sequence
March 1, 2015
Century vs England
March 8, 2015
Century vs Australia — third consecutive
March 11, 2015
Century vs Scotland — fourth consecutive, world record
Sri Lanka lost the quarter-final to South Africa. Sangakkara retired. He was later inducted into the ICC Hall of Fame and became ICC Chairman of Cricket. He is widely considered one of the two or three best batsmen of the 2000s.
The most sustained batting performance in World Cup history by a batsman in the final chapter of his career. Sangakkara's four centuries were not just statistical — they were an artist's farewell, perfectly composed.
Four consecutive World Cup centuries is a record so precisely defined and so obviously extraordinary that it may stand forever. It is the record that defines Sangakkara's ODI career — the final act of a batsman whose every innings felt like a masterclass.
Australia vs West Indies
1960-12-14
The first tied Test in 86 years of cricket history — Australia and West Indies finished level on 737 runs each after five days of breathless cricket in Brisbane, producing one of the most dramatic finishes the game has ever seen.
India vs Australia
1986-09-22
Twenty-six years after Brisbane, cricket produced only its second tied Test — Dean Jones's heroic 210 through crippling heat and Dean Jones's fever, Ravi Shastri's unbeaten 48 and India needing 2 off the last over, only for Maninder Singh to be out lbw off the final ball.
Australia vs South Africa
1999-06-17
Lance Klusener smashed Australia to the brink of elimination, then ran out Allan Donald off the penultimate ball to tie the match — but Australia advanced to the final on superior run rate, ending South Africa's greatest World Cup campaign in devastating fashion.