Fastest Centuries in Cricket History: ODI, T20, and Test

Batting centuries are cricket's primary individual milestone — reaching 100 runs in a single innings is both a statistical achievement and a mark of sustained excellence. But beyond the milestone itself, the speed at which a century is scored has become its own record category, particularly as T20 and white-ball cricket have pushed batting strike rates to extraordinary levels. The fastest century records across formats reveal how much batting has accelerated over generations: what was considered impossibly fast scoring in the 1980s is now routine at franchise T20 level, and the boundaries of what constitutes 'fast' continue to be pushed.

AB de Villiers: The Fastest ODI Century — 31 Balls

AB de Villiers of South Africa holds the record for the fastest century in One-Day International cricket: 100 runs off just 31 balls against the West Indies in Johannesburg in January 2015. The innings was part of a remarkable South African batting display and de Villiers finished with 149 off 44 balls. The 31-ball century broke his own previous record of the fastest ODI fifty (16 balls) set earlier in the same innings. De Villiers' batting in that period — famous for his 360-degree range of shots and ability to hit in any direction — produced some of the most aggressive ODI batting ever recorded. Before de Villiers, the record was held by Shahid Afridi (37 balls against Sri Lanka in 1996) and Corey Anderson of New Zealand (36 balls against the West Indies in 2014).

Fastest Test Centuries

Test cricket's fastest centuries are measured in balls faced rather than time, since overs can take vastly different times. The record for the fastest Test century in balls faced is held by Misbah-ul-Haq of Pakistan (56 balls against Australia in Abu Dhabi in 2014) — who matched Viv Richards' record set in 1986 (56 balls against England at St John's). Given the different eras and conditions, both are considered joint holders. Jack Gregory of Australia scored a Test century in 67 minutes in 1921 — considered the fastest by time rather than balls. In the modern era, fast Test hundreds are unusual because the format's longer duration means batters rarely need to accelerate to the same degree. Brendon McCullum scored 54 off 54 balls in what would become a Test hundred in 2016 (Headingley against Australia) in the now-famous innings that embodied BazBall philosophy before it had that name.

Fastest T20 International Centuries

T20 International centuries are themselves rare given each innings is only 120 balls. The fastest T20I century in terms of balls faced was scored by Rohit Sharma in 35 balls against Sri Lanka in 2017, though this record has since been contested by various innings in bilateral T20 series. The general consensus among cricket statisticians is that Rohit Sharma's 35-ball century or David Miller of South Africa's 35-ball century (against Bangladesh in 2017) share the T20I record depending on the source. In franchise T20 cricket — where player-of-the-match incentives and flat pitches regularly produce centuries — centuries in under 35 balls have become more common, but T20 International cricket has stricter conditions that make such feats rarer.

Why Speed Records Matter in Modern Cricket

Fastest century records have taken on greater commercial and competitive significance as T20 cricket has grown. Strike rate — runs per 100 balls faced — is now one of the primary metrics for evaluating limited-overs batters. A strike rate above 150 in T20s is considered excellent; above 180 is exceptional. Players like AB de Villiers, Chris Gayle, Yuvraj Singh, and more recently Tim David and Suryakumar Yadav have pushed the boundaries of what strike rates are sustainable over a full innings. The interplay between maximising individual strike rate and building a total that wins matches remains one of T20 cricket's most interesting tactical puzzles, and fastest century records are the most vivid demonstration of the limits of aggressive batting.