Virat Kohli is the only batsman to have smashed two fastest ODI centuries against a single opponent © Getty Images
Virat Kohli is the only batsman to have smashed two fastest ODI centuries against a single opponent © Getty Images

Jos Buttler smashed the second fastest century for England in One-Day Internationals (ODIs) in 66 balls, against New Zealand. Buttler also holds the record of fastest ODI century for England. Bharath Seervi lists the top two fastest centuries for each team, and against each of the 10 Test playing teams, in the 50-over format.

Jos Buttler holds the record of the two fastest centuries for England in ODI cricket. He had scored a 61-ball century against Sri Lanka chasing a target of 301 at Lord’s on May 31, 2015 which is the fastest by an Englishman in ODIs. Buttler scored another quick century against New Zealand at Edgbaston, this time in 66 balls. Buttler has scored only two tons in the format. The leading run-getters in Test cricket for each team

Let us take a look at the batsmen who have scored the two fastest centuries for their respective countries, against all Test playing nations.

 

Top two fastest ODI centuries for each team

Team Batsman Balls Final score Against Venue Date Result
Australia Glenn Maxwell 51 102 (53) Sri Lanka SCG 08-Mar-15 Won
James Faulkner 57 116 (73) India Chinnaswamy 02-Nov-13 Lost
Bangladesh Shakib Al Hasan 63 104 (64) Zimbabwe Bulawayo 11-Aug-09 Won
Shakib Al Hasan 68 105* (69) Zimbabwe Mirpur 29-Oct-09 Won
England Jos Buttler 61 121 (74) Sri Lanka Colombo (RPS) 31-May-14 Lost
Jos Buttler 66 129 (77) New Zealand Edgbaston 09-Jun-15 Won
India Virat Kohli 52 100* (52) Australia Jaipur 16-Oct-13 Won
Virender Sehwag 60 125* (74) New Zealand Hamilton 11-Mar-09 Won
New Zealand Corey Anderson 36 131* (47) West Indies Queentown 01-Jan-14 Won
Jesse Ryder 46 104 (51) West Indies Queentown 01-Jan-14 Won
Pakistan Shahid Afridi 37 102 (40) Sri Lanka Nairobi 04-Oct-96 Won
Shahid Afridi 45 102 (46) India Kanpur 15-Apr-05 Won
South Africa AB de Villiers 31 149 (44) West Indies New Wanderers 18-Jan-15 Won
Mark Boucher 44 147* (68) Zimbabwe Potchefstroom 20-Sep-06 Won
Sri Lanka Sanath Jayasuriya 48 134 (65) Pakistan Singapore 02-Apr-96 Won
Sanath Jayasuriya 55 130 (88) Bangladesh Karachi 30-Jun-08 Won
West Indies Brian Lara 45 117 (62) Bangladesh Dhaka 09-Oct-99 Won
Chris Gayle 69 112* (75) Zimbabwe Harare 30-Nov-03 Won
Zimbabwe Brendon Taylor 79 121 (91) Ireland Hobart 07-Mar-15 Lost
Andy Flower 82 140 (125) Kenya Dhaka 27-Mar-99 Won

–          Bangladesh (Shakib Al Hasan), England (Jos Buttler), Pakistan (Shahid Afridi) and Sri Lanka (Sanath Jayasuriya) are those four teams who have the same batsman registering two fastest centuries.

–          Shahid Afridi for Pakistan, and Sanath Jayasuriya for Sri Lanka, have the top three fastest ODI centuries for their respective teams.

–          For New Zealand, both centuries came in the same ODI against the West Indies. It was not a 50-over ODI but just a 21-over game as it was truncated by rain.

–          The slowest among the fastest centuries for each team has been for Zimbabwe — in 79 balls by Brendan Taylor.

–          For New Zealand, Pakistan and South Africa, the top two fastest centuries have been within 50 balls. Test cricket records: The “oldest” to everything

 

Top two fastest ODI centuries against each team

Against Batsman Balls Final score For Venue Date Result
Australia Virat Kohli 52 100* (52) India Jaipur 16-Oct-13 Won
Virat Kohli 61 115* (66) India Nagpur 30-Oct-13 Won
Bangladesh Brian Lara 45 117 (62) West Indies Dhaka 09-Oct-99 Won
Shahid Afridi 53 124 (60) Pakistan Dambulla 21-Jun-10 Won
England Kevin O’Brien 50 113 (63) Ireland Chinnaswamy 02-Mar-11 Won
Yuvraj Singh 64 138* (78) India Rajkot 14-Nov-08 Won
India Shahid Afridi 45 102 (46) Pakistan Kanpur 15-Apr-05 Won
James Faulkner 57 116 (73) Australia Chinnaswamy 02-Nov-13 Lost
New Zealand Virender Sehwag 60 125* (74) India Hamilton 11-Mar-09 Won
Mohammad Azharuddin 62 108* (65) India Baroda 17-Dec-88 Won
Pakistan Sanath Jayasuriya 48 134 (65) Sri Lanka Singapore 02-Apr-96 Won
Mushfiqur Rahim 69 106 (77) Bangladesh Mirpur 17-Apr-15 Won
South Africa Matthew Hayden 66 101 (68) Australia St Kitts 24-Mar-07 Won
Yusuf Pathan 68 105 (70) India Centurion 23-Jan-11 Lost
Sri Lanka Shahid Afridi 37 102 (40) Pakistan Nairobi 04-Oct-96 Won
Glenn Maxwell 51 102 (53) Australia SCG 08-Mar-15 Won
West Indies AB de Villiers 31 149 (44) South Africa New Wanderers 18-Jan-15 Won
Corey Anderson 36 131* (47) New Zealand Queenstown 01-Jan-14 Won
Zimbabwe Mark Boucher 44 147* (68) South Africa Potchefstroom 20-Sep-06 Won
Shakib Al Hasan 63 104 (64) Bangladesh Bulawayo 11-Aug-09 Won

–          Virat Kohli is the only batsman to have smashed two fastest ODI centuries against a single opponent, Australia. He achieved the feat in the same series while chasing targets over 350.

–          West Indies is the only team against which three centuries have been scored in less than 50 balls —AB de Villiers (31), Corey Anderson (36) and Jesse Ryder (46).

–          The slowest fastest century against a team has been against South Africa, in 66 balls by Matthew Hayden. The rest nine teams have conceded at least one century in less than 65 balls.

–          England is the only Test playing team which has conceded its fastest century to a batsman from Associate teams — in 50 balls to Kevin O’Brien (Ireland) in the 2011 World Cup. Harbhajan’s statistics in domestic cricket since his last appearance for India

–          New Zealand and Australia are the only two countries against whom batsmen from just one opponent (India) have the fastest centuries. While Virender Sehwag and Mohammad Azharuddin have slammed fastest tons versus the Kiwis, Virat Kohli has done it twice against Australia.

 

Fastest centuries for associate teams against full-time teams

There are two quick centuries by batsmen from Associate teams, against Test playing countries..

  1. In 50 balls by Kevin O’Brien (Ireland) against England, at Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore on March 2, 2011.
  2. In 67 balls by John Davison (Canada) against West Indies, at Centurion on February 23, 2003.

Both these centuries were scored in the World Cup tournaments and were the fastest centuries in the tournament’s history. John Davison’s record was beaten by Matthew Hayden by just one ball in 2,007 and then Kevin O’Brien bettered it in the ICC 2011 Cricket World Cup in mere 50 balls. There were quick centuries in 2015 World Cup as well but none could threaten Kevin O’Brien’s record. Glenn Maxwell came agonisingly close, but completed his century in 51 balls and AB de Villiers took 52 balls to complete his in the last World Cup. Identical first inning totals for both teams in a Test

(Bharath Seervi is a cricket statistician who is obsessed with digging numbers, facts and records related to the game. An active member of Society of Cricket Statisticians of India, he blogs at www.cricketseervistats.blogspot.com. He can be followed on Twitter at @SeerviBharath and on Facebook here)