World Cup story in numbers: It's raining fours and sixes

Batting has evolved since the first World Cup in England in 1975 with power-hitting becoming a norm as evidenced by a surge in number of fours and sixes hit.

Chris Gayle's hammered 215 off 147 balls against Zimbabwe in the 2015 World Cup, with 10 fours and 16 sixes.

Batting has evolved since the first World Cup in England in 1975. Wider blades, smaller boundaries and flatter pitches have ushered in an era of power-hitting where strike-rates in excess of 200 and targets above 400 have increasingly become a norm and not an aberration. In the lead up to the 2019 World Cup, we look at the  most sixes and fours hit by teams in the past and present.

Most sixes in an innings by a team: 19 WI v Zim (Canberra) 24 Feb 2015

Most fours in an innings by a team: 43 SL v Ken (Kandy) 6 Mar 1996

Most sixes in a match by both teams: 31 NZ (15) v WI (16) (Wellington WTS) 21 Mar 2015

Most fours in a match by both teams: 72 Aus (40) v SAf (32) (Basseterre) 24 Mar 2007

: 72 Aus (38) v SL (34) (Sydney) 8 Mar 2015

* Stats by: Mohandas Menon