Top 100 sporting moments of 2023: 100-91

From World Cups in rugby union, women's football, cricket and netball to rarely-seen feats in darts, formula 1 and MMA, the past year has contained thrills and spills to keep any sports fan entertained, regardless of what they are interested in.

GOATs have been crowned, sporting perfection has been achieved and a plethora of prestigious honours and trophies have been hoisted aloft.

Here, Sports Mole takes on the sizeable task of narrowing the last 365 days down to the 100 greatest sporting moments from across the spectrum, based on a ranking system which takes into account prestige, drama, history, newsworthiness, quality and importance.

So sit back and raise a glass to another historic year of sport with the conclusive list of the 100 greatest moments, starting with numbers 100 to 91.

100. Cricket World Cup records tumble in group stage

Aiden Markram, South Africa rack up record scores at Cricket World Cup (October 7)

Records tumbled in Delhi on October 7 when South Africa took on Sri Lanka in both teams' opening match of the Cricket World Cup.

South Africa had three separate centurions en route to a total of 428-5 - the highest team score in the history of the tournament - with the brilliant Quinton de Kock hitting 100 from 84 deliveries and Rassie van der Dussen weighing in with 108 runs off 110 balls.

The star of the show was Aiden Markram though, as he bludgeoned the fastest-ever World Cup hundred, reaching triple figures in just 49 deliveries - one ball quicker than the previous record held by Ireland's Kevin O'Brien since 2011.

Markram eventually fell on 106 from 54 balls, but South Africa continued to rack up the runs and surpass Australia's previous record mark of 417-6 from 2015.

To their credit, Sri Lanka took on the chase, but they were dismissed for 326 in 44.5 overs to suffer a 102-run defeat in a match which saw more runs overall than any previous Cricket World Cup game.

Pakistan produce record World Cup chase against Sri Lanka (October 10)

Sri Lanka would have felt justifiably confident of picking up their first win of the 2023 Cricket World Cup when they racked up 344-9 from their 50 overs against Pakistan in Hyderabad.

Kusal Mendis was the star of the show for them with a stunning 122 off just 77 balls, while Sadeera Samarawickrama also weighed in with 108 off 89 to leave Pakistan needing to pull off the biggest run chase in World Cup history if they were to make it two wins from two.

That chase got off to an inauspicious start when they fell to 37-2, but that all changed with Abdullah Shafique and Muhammad Rizwan at the crease.

The duo put on a sensational partnership of 176 off 156 deliveries, with Shafique making 113 off 103 before being caught out.

Rizwan continued to carry the baton despite suffering with cramp throughout the innings, putting on another 95 with Saud Shakeel for the fourth wicket.

Fittingly, it was Rizwan who hit the winning runs with 10 balls to spare, ending on an unbeaten 131 from 121 balls and sealing the greatest run chase ever seen in the tournament.

The chase surpassed the previous record - Ireland's 328-run chase against England in 2011 - by 17 runs, while the match was also the first in Cricket World Cup history to see four different players reach triple figures.

Glenn Maxwell leads Australia hammering of Netherlands (October 25)

There had already been more than one giant-killing at the 2023 Cricket World Cup, so Netherlands will have been full of optimism heading into their match against Australia in Delhi.

That optimism was soon bludgeoned out of them, though, with Glenn Maxwell inflicting the most damage as he smashed the record for the fastest century in World Cup history.

South Africa's Aiden Markram had set the previous record in 49 deliveries just 18 days earlier, but Maxwell made that look like a leisurely innings as he made it to triple figures in just 40 balls - the fourth-fastest in the format's history, and the fastest for Australia. Runs 50-100 came in just 13 deliveries.

Maxwell eventually fell for 106 from 44, having already seen David Warner chalk up his sixth World Cup century - only India's Rohit Sharma now has more - as Australia set Netherlands a mammoth target of 400 to win, with bowler Bas de Leede conceding 115 runs from his overs - the most of any bowler in ODI history.

Netherlands never came close; Australia bowled their opponents out for just 90, sealing a 309-run victory which was the biggest-ever in the World Cup, and the second-biggest in ODI history.

Australia, New Zealand play out highest-scoring Cricket World Cup match (October 28)

October's Trans-Tasman Cricket World Cup showdown between Australia and New Zealand looked like a tasty affair even before a ball was bowled, but the match in Dharamsala still managed to exceed all expectations.

Australia had found their form after a slow start to the tournament, whereas New Zealand had been one of the top teams throughout, and they went toe-to-toe in an all-time classic.

The Aussie opening partnership put on 175 in just 19.1 overs - including a national ODI record of 118 without loss in the 10-over powerplay - with Travis Head marking his return from injury by blasting 109 off 69 deliveries and the in-form David Warner also weighing in with 81 from 65.

Others also played their part as Australia ended on 388, leaving the Black Caps needing a World Cup record run-chase to pick up the win.

Breakout star Rachin Ravindra led the charge with 116 as New Zealand reached the final over needing 19 to win, and with key man Jimmy Neesham still at the crease.

However, the need to keep him on strike saw him run out on the penultimate ball when going for an unlikely second, and Lockie Ferguson was unable to hit the six needed on the final ball as Australia held on for the win.

The combined tally of 771 runs was more than any World Cup match has ever seen, while the result left both sides still firmly in contention to reach the semi-finals.

99. Novak Djokovic wins record seventh ATP Finals title (November 19)

Eyebrows were raised when Novak Djokovic was toppled by home favourite Jannik Sinner in the group stage of the season-ending ATP Finals in Turin, but the 36-year-old proved that he is still the dominant force in the sport by avenging that loss in the final.

The Serb capped off yet another remarkable year with a 6-3 6-3 win over Sinner to clinch a seventh title in the tournament, moving clear of Roger Federer into the outright lead in the all-time list.

Djokovic also extended his own record of being the tournament's oldest champion, as well as securing a year-end world number one ranking for an unprecedented eighth time and becoming the first person to ever spend 400 weeks at the top of the rankings.

98. Sam Tomkins magic ends St Helens' Super League reign (October 6)

At least one legendary Super League career was guaranteed to come to an end on October 6 as Sam Tomkins's Catalans Dragons took on James Roby and Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook's St Helens in the semi-finals.

In the end, it was a dream finale for one and a disappointing end for two, as Tomkins came up with the clutch play to send Catalans to the Grand Final and end St Helens' unprecedented run of dominance in the competition.

The four-time defending champions were held to a scoreless first half as Catalans went in just 2-0 up after a tense opening 40, but Will Hopoate's try put the Saints ahead.

Catalans relied on kicks to claw the low-scoring contest back to 6-6 heading into the closing stages, when Tomkins provided another memorable, magical moment in the final season of his stellar career.

Shaping up for what would have been a match-winning drop goal, Tomkins instead dummied the kick and danced through the staggered defence to touch down for a last-gasp try that sent Catalans to Old Trafford.

97. Germany knocked out in Women's World Cup group stage (August 3)

As two-time champions, one of the pre-tournament favourites and the second-highest ranked team on the planet, everything appeared to be going to the script for Germany when they opened their Women's World Cup campaign with a 6-0 hammering of Morocco on July 24.

However, fast-forward 10 days and one of the powerhouses of the women's game found themselves suffering the unimaginable ignominy of being knocked out at the group stage for the first time in their history, with Morocco - the team they obliterated on matchday one - taking their place in the last 16.

Germany had only ever failed to top their group in one of their previous nine World Cup appearances and reached the European Championship final just 12 months earlier, but a loss to Colombia on matchday two left them needing to better Morocco's result to progress in the final game.

They were still regarded as firm favourites to do that, only to be held to a 1-1 draw by lowly South Korea while Morocco beat Colombia 1-0 to progress.

It was by no means the first shock of the tournament, with fellow top-10 teams Canada and Brazil having also suffered surprise early exits, but Germany's premature departure went down as one of the biggest upsets in Women's World Cup history.

96. Fiji record first-ever win over England (August 26)

With a change of head coach, a poor run of results and a string of injuries and disciplinary issues, England's build-up to the Rugby World Cup had already been far from ideal heading into August's meeting with Fiji.

However, it plumbed new depths in their final warm-up match at Twickenham, as Steve Borthwick's underperforming side slumped to their first-ever defeat at the hands of the Pacific Islanders.

Indeed, it was their first defeat to any nation outside of the Six Nations and Rugby Championship, with Fiji running in three second-half tries to turn the game around and ultimately win 30-22.

It was a fifth defeat in six matches for England ahead of the World Cup, raising serious questions about just how far they could go in France.