5 fastest half-centuries at the ICC Cricket World Cup

#2 Brendon McCullum (New Zealand) - 20 balls vs Canada, Gros Islet 2007

New Zealand took on Canada in this Group C fixture at the 2007 edition of the ICC Cricket World Cup. Canada won the toss and elected to field first on a belter of a pitch at Gros Islet. Lou Vincent’s century coupled with a half-century from the captain Stephen Fleming assured that the NZ team got off to a formidable start. The Canadian team managed to apply some pressure during the middle overs, stalling the NZ team’s momentum. At 278/5 McCullum walked out to bat in the company of Jacob Oram with exactly 7 overs left in the innings.

McCullum features twice on this list.

McCullum first targeted Kevin Sandher, Canada’s best bowler of the day, by smashing him for 2 sixes in the 46th over. McCullum was batting on 37(17) before the final over was to be bowled by Sunil Dhaniram. McCullum clobbered 2 towering sixes on the first three deliveries of the last over to bring up his half-century off just 20 balls. His innings comprised of 5 sixes and a solitary four.

NZ managed a promising 363/5 in their allotted 50 overs.

Canada showed tremendous grit and determination in their run chase, but a total in excess of 300 was always going to be a tough ask for any given side. New Zealand won the match by 114 runs.