The T20 format of cricket is all about speed and aggression. The game is often played with a shorter boundary, and batsmen have to score quick runs to get the boundaries. Many batsmen have scored centuries in T20 International Cricket, but only a handful of them have achieved that in the shortest time. Let us take a look at those top batsmen with the fastest centuries in T20 International Cricket.
List of Top 8 Batsmen with Fastest Centuries in T20 International Cricket
Here are the top 10 players from around the world who have scored the fastest t20 century in international cricket.
David Miller – 35 balls
(South Africa vs. Bangladesh – Potchefstroom, 29/10/2017)
South Africa batsman David Miller scored the fastest T20 International century of all time, reaching his ton in just 35 balls against Bangladesh at Potchefstroom in 2017. He beat the record of his fellow countrymen Richard Levi, who had knocked a ton in 45 deliveries against New Zealand in February 2012.
Miller hit nine sixes and seven fours in his knock of 101 not out from just 35 deliveries. South Africa beat Bangladesh by 83 runs and completed a 2-0 series win over them. Earlier in the tour, Bangladesh also got whitewashed by South Africa in Test and ODI series.
Rohit Sharma – 35 balls
(India vs. Sri Lanka – Indore, 22/12/2017)
Rohit Sharma scored the joint fastest T20 century in 35 balls for India against Sri Lanka in Indore in 2017. He was playing in the second T20I of Sri Lanka’s tour of India. Rohit is also the only Indian batsman to have scored four T20I centuries, out of which three have come at home.
Rohit Sharma hit 12 fours and 10 sixes in a match where overall there were 31 sixes. The shorter boundaries were one of the reasons Sri Lanka captain Thisara Perera put India into bat. Chasing the steep target of 260, Sri Lanka managed to score only 172 and got bowled out in 17.2 overs.
S Wickramasekara – 35 balls
(Czech Republic vs. Turkey – Ilfov County, 30/08/2019)
It was August 30, 2019, when India took on the West Indies in the Caribbean. However, around 10,000 km away, there was another cricket tournament going on that many probably didn’t know of. It was the cricket teams of the Czech Republic and Turkey that met for an international T20 match in Ilfov County, Romania.
The match was a part of the Continental Cricket Cup, where there were four other teams besides the hosts, Romania. The teams included Austria, the Czech Republic, Turkey, and Luxembourg. Edward Knowles, the Czech Republic captain, won the toss and had no hesitation in batting first.
His team had already made their debut earlier in the day against Austria. It was only the second instance of a team playing two international matches on the same day. UAE and Papua New Guinea were the two teams that had achieved the feat back in 2017.
Sudesh Wickramasekara’s blitzkrieg saw eight fours and ten sixes in his knock of 104 not out off 36 balls. In reply, Turkey had a nightmarish start as they lost seven wickets with a total of only five runs. Ultimately, the Czech Republic bowled them out for only 21 runs. It was a 257-run defeat for Turkey in a match that saw many more records being broken.
S Periyalwar – 39 balls
(Romania v Turkey – Ilfov County, 29/08/2019)
Indian-origin batsman Sivakumar Periyalwar achieved this feat just a day before Sudesh Wickramasekara’s 35-ball ton against Turkey. Periyalwar also became the first Romanian batsman to score a century in T20I cricket. A software engineer by profession, he scored 105 off just 40 deliveries with 12 fours and six sixes.
His ton took Romania to a total of 226 for 6 in 20 overs. Turkey only managed a paltry total of 53 in response and lost the match by 173 runs. At that time, the Romanian team broke a 12-year-old record to win a T20I game by the highest margin of runs. Sri Lanka had earlier held the record when they beat Kenya by 172 runs at the 2007 T20I World Cup.
Periyalwar worked as an engineer at a software company in Romania and played for the Cluj Cricket Club. His team won the national T20 tournament for consecutive years. His performance got him selected for the national side. He hails from the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and has participated in Under-15, Under-22, and Under-25 tournaments there.
Zeeshan Kukikhel – 39 balls
(Hungary v Austria – Lower Austria, 05/06/2022)
Several European countries began their preparations for the qualification for the 2024 Men’s T20 World Cup. One such bilateral series was organised between Hungary and Austria. There were three matches played across two days at the Seebarn Cricket Centre, Vienna.
It was the third match of the series when Austria batted first and scored 196-6 from their 20 overs. They managed to amass a large total on the back of an unbeaten 95 from 47 balls from Razmal Shigiwal. Hungarian bowler Sandeep Mohandas took 3-26 and managed to restrict Austria a bit.
Zeeshan Kukikhel’s blinder saw Hungary chasing down the target comfortably. He scored the century in just 39 balls, which became the fourth fastest ton in T20I. He ended up scoring 137 before getting bowled by Itibarshah Deedar. His knock helped Hungary win the match comfortably by four wickets with an over to spare.
HG Munsey – 41 balls
(Scotland v Netherlands – Dublin, 16/09/2019)
George Munsey opened the innings for Scotland in the second match of the Ireland Tri-Nation T20I Series against the Netherlands. He along with Kyle Coetzer smashed 200 for the first wicket and surpassed several records. Munsey scored 127 off only 56 balls with five fours and 14 sixes. It led to Scotland scoring 252 for 3 in their 20 overs, which was their highest total in T20Is.
The Netherlands gave a decent fight, thanks to the effort of 96 not out off 49 balls from their captain, Pieter Seelaar. However, the target proved too much as the Netherlands folded up for 194 for 7 in their 20 overs.
Munsey and Coetzer had managed to break several records as their 200-run stand was the third highest for any wicket in twenty-twenty cricket. Munsey also made the fifth fastest century in T20I cricket. It was also his first century in international cricket. Only Afghanistan’s Hazratullah Zazai has scored more than 14 sixes in a T20I match.
Shaheryar Butt – 41 balls
(Belgium v Czech Republic – Walferdange, 29/08/2020)
Belgium captain Shaheryar Butt scored a T20 international hundred off only 41 balls in the fourth match of the Luxembourg Twenty20 Tri-Series. Belgium was batting first but got off to a disappointing start as they lost four wickets for 41 runs in eight overs. Looking to give his team a respectable total, Shaheryar Butt hit 11 fours and nine sixes in his knock of 125 not out off 50 balls.
He came to the crease after the fall of the third wicket and played till the end. His strike rate of 250 was one of the best you will ever see. The Czech Republic didn’t get the start they would have wanted to chase a mammoth target of 198 runs. They eventually made 151/8 from their 20 overs.
Hazratullah Zazai – 42 balls
(Afghanistan v Ireland – Dehradun, 23/02/2019)
The 2nd T20I between Afghanistan and Ireland in Dehradun was a game where several records were broken. It included the biggest team total across T20 cricket, most sixes by a batsman in T20I innings, second-highest individual score in T20Is, and highest partnership for any wicket in all T20s.
Hazratullah Zazai, who has a reputation for hitting massive sixes, came into this match on the back of his records of the joint-fastest T20 fifty and a 44-ball T20 hundred. He has also already hit six sixes in an over earlier in his career against Ireland. He hit 16 sixes and 11 fours in his knock of 162 not out of 62 balls in this match.
Together with his opening partner Usman Ghani, the duo managed to amass a world-record partnership of 236 for the first wicket. Ghani scored 73 runs at a strike rate of 152.08. In their response, Ireland raced to 126 in 11.5 overs when their captain Paul Stirling got out for 91 of 50 balls. Ireland eventually lost the match by 84 runs.
Fastest Century in T20 International
So this was a list of the top eight batsmen with the fastest T20 century in international cricket. It is no surprise to see big hitters like David Miller and Rohit Sharma at the top. Knocks like these have helped Rohit Sharma, become more popular in the cricket world as a hitman. While these are the two biggest names from teams that play international cricket regularly at the highest level, it is also equally refreshing to see names like Wickramasekara, Periyalwar, and Kukikhel, among others in this list.
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