JOHANNESBURG, Feb 24: Australian Tom Moody woke up on Sunday morning as the scorer of the fastest fifty in World Cup history.

Some 36 hours later, however, the lanky former all-rounder will go to bed relegated to fourth on the list following a feast of attacking batting at the 2003 tournament.

First man to better Moody’s half-century from 28 balls against Bangladesh in 1999 was West Indies opener Wavell Hinds.

Perhaps inspired by Canada’s John Davison, who failed by only two balls to knock Moody off the top of the standings on the way to the fastest ever century at the World Cup, Hinds reached his fifty from 24 deliveries.

Hinds had barely lowered his raised bat, though, when his partner Brian Lara was plundering Barry Seebaran’s gentle medium pace for 26 runs in a single over, posting his own half-century in 23 balls.

The two West Indians sat proudly atop the list overnight and, when Zimbabwe slumped to 142 for six against Australia in the next World Cup match on Monday, few people would have expected the record to be threatened again.

But enter unheralded Zimbabwe all-rounder Andy Blignaut.

The former model launched into the world champions’ much-vaunted attack in blistering style, smashing two sixes and eight fours to reach his half-century in 25 balls, two more than Lara but still three fewer than the unfortunate Moody.

Davison’s 30-ball fifty left him joint sixth on the list, tied with England’s Chris Old, Pakistan’s Imran Khan, New Zealander Martin Crowe and Sri Lanka’s Sanath Jayasuriya.

Moody is now relegated to fourth, one place above former Sri Lanka captain Arjuna Ranatunga.—Reuters