In cricket, a century is a score of 100 or more runs in a single innings by a batter. The term is also included in "century partnership" which occurs when two batsmen add 100 runs to the team total when they are batting together. A century is regarded as a landmark score for batters and a player's number of centuries is generally recorded in their career statistics. Scoring a century is loosely equivalent in merit to a bowler taking a five-wicket haul, and is commonly referred to as a ton or hundred. Scores of more than 200 runs are still statistically counted as a century, although these scores are referred to as double (200–299 runs), triple (300–399 runs), and quadruple centuries (400–499 runs), and so on. Reaching 50 runs in an innings is known as a half-century.
Scoring a century at Lord's cricket ground in London earns the batter a place on the Lord's honours boards. [1]
Centuries were uncommon until the late 19th century because of the difficulties in batting on pitches that had only rudimentary preparation and were fully exposed to the elements. There is doubt about the earliest known century, but the most definite claim belongs to John Minshull who scored 107 for the Duke of Dorset's XI v Wrotham at Sevenoaks Vine on 31 August 1769. [2] This was a minor match.
The first definite century in a top-class match was scored by John Small when he made 136 for Hampshire v Surrey at Broadhalfpenny Down in July 1775. [3] The earliest known century partnership was recorded in 1767 between two Hambledon batsmen [4] who added 192 for the first wicket against Caterham. It is believed they were Tom Sueter and Edward "Curry" Aburrow. [5]
When Hambledon played Kent at Broadhalfpenny in August 1768, the Reading Mercury reported: "what is very remarkable, one Mr Small, of Petersfield, fetched above seven score notches off his own bat". Unfortunately it is not known if Small did this in one innings or if it was his match total. [4] Hambledon batsmen Tom Sueter and George Leer are the first two players definitely known to have shared a century partnership when they made 128 for the first wicket against Surrey at Broadhalfpenny Down in September 1769. [6]
W. G. Grace was the first batsman to score 100 career centuries in first-class cricket, reaching the milestone in 1895. His career total of 124 centuries was subsequently passed by Jack Hobbs, whose total of 199 first-class centuries is the current record. [7] [8]
The first century in Test cricket was scored by Charles Bannerman who scored 165 before retiring hurt, in the first ever Test between Australia and England, played at the Melbourne Cricket Ground from 15 to 19 March 1877. [9] The first century partnership in Test cricket was between W. G. Grace and A. P. Lucas, batting for England, in the first innings of the only Test match between England and Australia on the Australians' 1880 tour of England, played at the Kennington Oval (6–8 September 1880).
The current holder of the record for most centuries in Test cricket is Sachin Tendulkar of India, who has scored 51 centuries. [10]
The first One Day International (ODI) century was scored by Dennis Amiss, who made 103 for England against Australia at Old Trafford on 24 August 1972. [11] It was nearly 48 years before the first ODI double century was scored by Indian opener Sachin Tendulkar, who reached 200 not out against South Africa at the Captain Roop Singh Stadium, Gwalior on 24 February 2010. [12] Currently, Virat Kohli holds the record by scoring 50 ODI centuries, followed by Sachin Tendulkar with 49 centuries, Rohit Sharma with 31 centuries and Ricky Ponting with 30 centuries.
The first Twenty20 International (T20I) century was scored by Chris Gayle who amassed 117 runs against South Africa at Johannesburg in the first match of ICC World Twenty20 tournament in 2007. [13] Rohit Sharma and Glenn Maxwell jointly hold the record for most T20I centuries (5).
The fastest recorded century in Test cricket in terms of balls faced is held by Brendon McCullum, who scored 100 runs from 54 balls against Australia in 2016 at Christchurch, New Zealand, in his final test, beating the previous record of 56 held jointly by Viv Richards and Misbah-ul-Haq. The record for the fastest century in first-class cricket in terms of time taken, in genuine match conditions rather than in contrived circumstances with deliberately weak bowling, is held by Percy Fender, who scored 100 in 35 minutes for Surrey against Northamptonshire in a County Championship match in 1920. The record for the fastest recorded century in terms of balls faced in first-class cricket is held by David Hookes, who scored 102 runs from 34 balls for South Australia vs. Victoria in a Sheffield Shield match in 1982.
In One day International cricket (ODI), the fastest century is held by South African batsman AB De Villiers. De Villiers' century came up in just 31 balls against the West Indies in the 2nd ODI at Johannesburg on 18 January 2015. De Villiers' hundred included 8 fours and 16 sixes. Corey Anderson (New Zealand) is second, scoring a 36-ball century against West Indies in Queenstown on 1 January 2014. Shahid Afridi (Pakistan) is third. with his 37-ball century against Sri Lanka being scored in Nairobi on 4 October 1996.
Sahil Chauhan of Estonia hit the fastest century in Twenty20 international cricket against Cyprus on 17 June 2024. Chauhan brought up his century in 27 balls, going past Jan Nicol Loftie-Eaton's hundred in 33 deliveries. [14] Chauhan also broke Chris Gayle's record for the fastest century in Twenty20 cricket of 30 balls.
On 22 April 2019, Scottish cricketer George Munsey scored 100 in 25 balls playing for Gloucestershire 2nd XI; his 39-ball total of 147 included 20 sixes. [15] [16]
Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar is an Indian former international cricketer who captained the Indian national team. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest batsmen in the history of cricket. Hailed as the world's most prolific batsman of all time, he is the all-time highest run-scorer in both ODI and Test cricket with more than 18,000 runs and 15,000 runs, respectively. He also holds the record for receiving the most player of the match awards in international cricket. Tendulkar was a Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha by presidential nomination from 2012 to 2018.
Vangipurapu Venkata Sai Laxman is a former Indian international cricketer and a former cricket commentator and pundit. A right-hand batsman known for his elegant stroke play, Laxman played as a middle-order batsman in Test cricket. Laxman is currently the Head of Cricket at the National Cricket Academy (NCA), and the head coach of the India Under-19 and India A teams. Laxman was a member of the Indian team that was one of the joint-winners of the 2002 ICC Champions Trophy, which the title was also shared with Sri Lanka.
Deshabandu Sanath Teran Jayasuriya, is a former Sri Lankan cricketer and captain, who is widely regarded as one of the greatest all rounders ever to play in ODI cricket. A left arm opening batsman, an orthodox spinner and a dynamic fielder, Jayasuriya together with his opening partner Romesh Kaluwitharana is credited for having revolutionized one-day international cricket with his explosive batting in the mid-1990s, which initiated the hard-hitting modern-day batting strategy of all nations. He was a key member of the Sri Lankan team that won 1996 Cricket World Cup. Under his captaincy Sri Lanka become joint champions along with India in the 2002 Champions Trophy.
Yuvraj Singh is a former Indian international cricketer who played in all formats of the game. He was an all-rounder who batted left-handed in the middle order and bowled slow left-arm orthodox. He has won 7 Player of the Series awards in One Day International (ODI) cricket, which is a joint 3rd highest by an Indian cricketer, shared with former Indian captain Sourav Ganguly. He is the son of former Indian fast bowler and Punjabi actor Yograj Singh.
Dr. Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy ACA–VDCA Cricket Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, India. It is primarily used for international cricket matches. The stadium has two-tiers and was designed to avoid any restricted views, eliminating pillars or columns which come in the field of view of spectators. The pitch is known to be batsman-friendly.
Virender Sehwag is a former Indian cricketer who represented India from 1999 to 2013. Widely regarded as one of the most destructive openers and one of the greatest batsman of his era, he played for Delhi Capitals in IPL and Delhi and Haryana in Indian domestic cricket. He played his first One Day International in 1999 and joined the Indian Test side in 2001. In April 2009, Sehwag became the first Indian to be honoured as the Wisden Leading Cricketer in the World for his performance in 2008, subsequently becoming the first player of any nationality to retain the award for 2009. He worked as stand-in captain occasionally during absence of main captain of India, also worked as Vice-Captain for Indian squad. He is former captain of Delhi Daredevils and Delhi Ranji Team. During his time with India, Sehwag was a member of the team that was one of the joint winners of the 2002 ICC Champions Trophy, the winners of the 2007 T20 World Cup, and the winners of the 2011 Cricket World Cup. During the 2002 ICC Champions Trophy, Sehwag was the highest run scorer with 271 runs. In 2023, he was inducted into ICC Cricket Hall of Fame.
Glenn James Maxwell is an Australian professional cricketer. He has played for the Australia national cricket team in all formats of the game since 2012, although he is primarily a One Day International and Twenty20 International specialist. Maxwell is an all-rounder who is known for his sometimes unorthodox batting and bowls right arm off-break deliveries. Domestically he played for Victoria and Melbourne Stars. He was part of the Australian squads that won the 2015 Cricket World Cup, the 2023 Cricket World Cup, and the 2021 T20 World Cup. His ability to make unconventional shots like reverse sweeps and pulls often makes it hard to set fields that cover all of his scoring areas.
The South Africa national cricket team visited India in 2000 for a two-match Test series and a five-match ODI series. The Test teams were led by Hansie Cronje and Sachin Tendulkar respectively for South Africa and India, while the latter's ODI side was led by Sourav Ganguly. South Africa won the Test series 2–0, while India took the ODI series by a 3–2 margin. The ODI series was later marred by a dramatic match fixing scandal. It was the first time that a visiting Test team had won in India for thirteen years, and the last Test matches to be played by Cronje.
The Australia national cricket team toured India between 10 October to 2 November 2013, playing a Twenty20 International match and seven-match One Day International series against India. Due to an ongoing back injury, Australian captain Michael Clarke was replaced by Callum Ferguson and George Bailey captained the side. During the second ODI match, all of the first five Australian batsmen made a score of fifty or more, a feat which no side had previously done. In the second match, India chased down the target of 360 runs to win, making this the second highest run-chase to win an ODI game. Two weeks later in the sixth match, India again chased down the Australian total of 350 runs to record the third highest run-chase to win a game. Coincidentally, all three highest run chases had come against Australia. In the seventh and final match, Indian batsman Rohit Sharma became the third man to make a double-century in ODI cricket, when he scored 209 from 158 balls. His innings included 16 sixes, the most in an ODI innings beating the previous record of 15 held by Australian cricketer Shane Watson. The record was later broken by England's Eoin Morgan who hit 17 sixes against Afghanistan in 2019.
The West Indies cricket team toured South Africa from 10 December 2014 to 28 January 2015. The tour consisted of three Twenty20 Internationals (T20Is), three Test matches and five One Day Internationals (ODIs). With South Africa's 2–0 win in the Test series, they retained the number one position in the Test rankings.
Kushal Malla is a Nepalese cricketer. He is a left-handed batsman, and a left-arm off-spinner. Known for his aggressive batting, he scored the fastest century in Twenty20 Internationals, off just 34 balls, in the opening match of the 2022 Asian Games against Mongolia, a record previously held by David Miller, Rohit Sharma and Sudesh Wickramasekara (35 balls), and later broken by Jan Nicol Loftie-Eaton.
By scoring a century, taking five wickets in an innings or ten wickets in a match, a player ensures that their name is added to one of the famous Honours Boards in the Pavilion.