Top 10 Fastest Centuries In ODI Cricket

ODI cricket came into being in 1971. Initially it faced harsh resistance from the traditional school of thought. Since then this version has sustained all the odds to establish itself as a most entertaining package of the game. This format gave birth to the initial version of the world cup in 1975 which further opened more avenues of entertainment and excitement. The odi format has seen countless moments of glory all through the history. But the most striking feature of this version of cricket is the urgency in the batsmen to score runs quickly.

It all started back in year 1996 when Sri Lanka won the world cup and they had invented a different style of play in opening 15 overs where Jayasuriya belted bowlers all over the place. He scored 100 against Pakistan in Singapore on just 48 balls. However 6 months later in October 1996 Shahid Afridi came from nowhere to announce himself on world stage with a 37 ball 100.

The entire cricket world was baffled when Shahid Afridi smashed 100 of just 37 balls. It’s time that we recap the epic innings where batsmen scored hundreds like a piece of cake.

#1. AB de Villiers 100 of 31 balls

He walked in to bat with virtually no pressure on him as the opening batsmen Hashim Amla and Rossouw had already put up a double century stand and AB walked in at 247 for 1. After that what followed at Wanderers was quite astonishing. He demolished the West Indian fast bowlers and hammered them all across the park. He played them like they were spinners and played scoops and reverse sweeps with total ease. He is Mr. 360 and on that day he justified his credentials as the best batsman in the world. Scoring the 100 in mere 31 balls was never imagined in the era of great Sunil Gavaskar and Alan Border.

#2. Corey Anderson 100 of 36 balls

Corey Anderson pulled out this feat in Queenstown in 2014. Despite of the fact that the boundaries were not that long, still it takes a lot of effort to score a century in mere 36 balls. And once again it was West Indies that was at the receiving end. He came into bat at number 5 and took a bit of liking against the men from Caribbean. He hit 14 sixes and scored his runs at a flabbergasting strike rate of 278.

#3. Shahid Afridi 100 of 37 balls

16 year old Pathan had just made into Pakistani team as a leg spinner in 1996. He was promoted up the order in just his 2nd match when his team needed some quick runs. He took everyone by surprise when he hit towering sixes against the likes of Vass, Muralidharan and Sanath Jayasuria. His innings comprised of 11 sixes and 6 fours. He scored 100 of 37 balls and it was a record at that time. It took 18 year to break this record.

#4. Mark Boucher 100 of 44 balls

Not only was he one of the best wicket keepers of the world but he was also a useful late order batsman who could muster up some quick runs for his side. In 2006 series against Zimbabwe, he pulled out this amazing feat and scored a hundred from just 44 balls. He played a knock of 147 of just 68 balls and had hit 10 sixes and 8 fours.

#5. Brain Lara 100 of 45 balls

Brain Lara is the all time batting legend. A complete batting genius with all the shots in the book and ability to dismantle the bowling attacks has several other performances up his sleeves, which not many people are aware of. His score of 117 against Bangladesh in 1999 at Dhaka included a century of 45 balls which is till now the fastest 100 scored by a West Indian.

#6. Shahid Afridi 100 of 45 balls

He may not be the most dependable batsman in the world but we all are aware of his ability to destroy the opposition with his devastating batting. One such incident occurred in 2005 at Kanpur where he was absolutely unleashed against India. He took Balaji, Kumble and Zaheer Khan to the cleaners and scored his 2nd fastest hundred of just 45 balls. It was after this innings, when he got the title of “Boom Boom”.

#7. Jesse Ryder 100 of 46 balls

The game in which Corey Anderson got his fastest hundred of 36 balls also happens to be the one in which Jesse Ryder scored a ton of just 46 balls in 2014. It was unfortunate that the brilliance of Corey Anderson clouded the performance of Ryder but one cannot deny the brilliance of this knock. And this happens to be the 7th fastest 100 in odi cricket. He hit 5 sixes and 12 fours and scored his runs at a strike rate of over 200.

#8. Jos Buttler 100 of 46 balls

Jos Buttler is a modern day wicket keeper batsman with safe hand behind the stumps and explosive with the bat in front of the stumps. His rampage against Pakistan in rink of fire at Dubai in 2015 lead to 100 of 46 balls and England managed to reach 355 as a result. Even though the boundaries in Dubai are not that short still he managed to hit 8 sixes and 10 fours.

#9. Sanath Jaysuria 100 of 48 balls

Sanath Jaysuria has scored more that thirteen thousand runs in one day international cricket and all that have come at an impressive strike rate of 91.20. Hence it was quite obvious that he will feature in this list. His knock against Pakistan in 1996 at Singapore bamboozled everyone as he went ballistic right from the start. He hit 11 sixes and scored a total of 134 runs at a strike rate of 206.15.

#10. Kevin O’Brien 100 of 50 balls

Kevin Obrien is the only one form associate nation to feature in the list of top 10 fastest hundreds. His hundred came in the most critical circumstances at Bangalore in 2015 world cup when Ireland were 5 down for 111 while chasing a mammoth total of 328. Kevin Obrien hit six sixes to register the then fastest world cup hundred. Due to his brave effort, Ireland was able to topple England and caused one of the major upsets in the history of the game.