Fastest Hundreds (100) in ODIs
The one day game was invented to make cricket more exciting for supporters, and over the past four decades or so, it has lived up to those expectations. In one day internationals (ODIs), batsmen are expected to score quickly and that is the primary reason why the game has become so popular.
Over the years, we have scored some sensational individual performances. Players have notched sensational centuries and even double-centuries. With the advent of T20 cricket, it has become important to score the runs in as fewer balls as possible
On that note, we take a look top 5 players with the fastest centuries in World Cricket:
#5 Brian Lara (45 Balls) against Bangladesh in 1999
Brian Charles Lara is not only one of West Indies’ greatest players but also one of the game’s greatest students and exports. Lara is one of the few players capable of being spoken in the same light as Sachin Tendulkar and Sir Donald Bradman, such was his talent and his will to impose himself as he struck fear into the opposition.
Lara was at his absolute best against Bangladesh in October 1999 as the inexperienced bowling unit toiled to find a breakthrough. He hit 18 fours and 4 sixes on the way to an impressive total of 117. His century came off just 45 balls, 5th fastest to this day.
#4 Mark Boucher (44 Balls) vs Zimbabwe in 2006
In an ODI at Potchefstroom, South African wicketkeeper Mark Boucher came into bat at number 4 and celebrated his promotion with a breathtaking assault on the Zimbabwean bowling attack. He ended up scoring 147 runs in 68 balls and hit 8 fours and 10 sixes in an innings that lasted one-and-a-half hours.
He reached his century off 44 balls which is currently the 4th fastest century ever scored in ODIs.
#3 Shahid Afridi (37 Balls) vs Sri Lanka in 1996
Shahid Afridi or “Boom Boom Afridi” as he is most commonly referred to due to his ability to clear the boundary with ease, is one of Pakistan’s aces and has been a bedrock for his country for a long duration. On his day, Afridi is one of the most unstoppable forces as he uses shear force to destroy even the best bowling units.
This was one of those days where Afridi kicked into high gear as he scored a quickfire 102 off 37 balls, smashing 11 sixes and 6 fours in the process. At the age of just 16, Afridi destroyed the newly-crowned World Champions Sri Lanka.
#2 Corey Anderson (36 Balls) v West Indies in 2014
In the game in which Jesse Ryder entered the record books by scoring a 46-ball century, his teammate Corey Anderson went one better and broke a record that had stood for 14 years, by slamming a 36-ball century.
In a small ground, the Kiwi allrounder hit sixes with impunity to bring up his century in 36 balls, thereby breaking the record for the fastest hundred in ODIs. He went on to score 132 off 47 balls in an innings that spanned 51 minutes. He hit only 6 fours but made up for that by clearing the ropes 14 times.
#1 AB de Villiers (31 Balls) v West Indies in 2015
With South Africa well-placed at 247-1 in an ODI against West Indies at the Wanderers, AB de Villiers came in to bat in the 38th over and unleashed absolute carnage for the next hour to completely decimate the opposition. He brought up his century in 31 balls to records the fastest century in ODIs and then went on to score 149 (9 fours and 16 sixes).
To put things into perspective, opener Hashim Amla remained not out and scored 153, but de Villiers who came in to bat in the 39th over was just 4 short of his score when he was dismissed.
