Fastest Centuries in Cricket History: Test, ODI, T20I and T20 Records (2026)
Sahil Chauhan's 27-ball T20I hundred, AB de Villiers' 31-ball ODI century, Brendon McCullum's 54-ball Test ton and Gayle's 30-ball IPL blitz — every fastest-century record explained.
· CricLiveOnline staff
“Fastest century” is one of cricket’s most-searched records — and one of its most confused, because every format has its own. Here is the complete, current picture across all forms of the game as of July 2026.
Fastest T20I centuries
| Balls | Player | Match | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| 27 | Sahil Chauhan (Estonia) | vs Cyprus | 2024 |
| 29 | Muhammad Fahad | T20I | 2024–25 |
| 33 | Finn Allen (New Zealand) | vs South Africa, T20 World Cup semi-final | 2026 |
| 33 | Jan Nicol Loftie-Eaton (Namibia) | vs Nepal | 2024 |
| 34 | Kushal Malla (Nepal) | vs Mongolia, Asian Games | 2023 |
| 35 | Rohit Sharma (India) / David Miller (South Africa) | 2017 |
The record’s recent history says everything about where cricket is going: it has been broken repeatedly by Associate nation players — Estonia’s Sahil Chauhan holds it outright at 27 balls. Finn Allen’s 33-ball century in the 2026 T20 World Cup semi-final is the fastest ever by a Full Member player, and the fastest at a World Cup.
Nepal features twice in the speed books: Kushal Malla’s 34-ball ton and Dipendra Singh Airee’s 9-ball fifty — the fastest half-century in T20I history — both from the same extraordinary 2023 Asian Games innings surge that produced the highest T20I team total ever (314/3).
Fastest ODI centuries
| Balls | Player | Match | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| 31 | AB de Villiers (South Africa) | vs West Indies, Johannesburg | 2015 |
| 36 | Corey Anderson (New Zealand) | vs West Indies | 2014 |
| 37 | Shahid Afridi (Pakistan) | vs Sri Lanka — on debut innings, aged 16 | 1996 |
AB de Villiers’ 31-ball hundred is the benchmark of modern hitting — he broke the fastest-fifty record (16 balls) on the way to it. Shahid Afridi’s 37-ball century, made at 16 in his first international innings with a borrowed bat, held the record for 18 years — the longest reign in the category’s history.
Fastest Test centuries
| Balls | Player | Match | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| 54 | Brendon McCullum (New Zealand) | vs Australia, Christchurch — his farewell Test | 2016 |
| 56 | Viv Richards (West Indies) | vs England, Antigua | 1986 |
| 56 | Misbah-ul-Haq (Pakistan) | vs Australia, Abu Dhabi | 2014 |
McCullum broke Viv Richards’ 30-year-old record in his final Test match — the most storybook exit imaginable, and the innings that foreshadowed the “Bazball” attacking philosophy he later instilled as England coach.
Fastest T20 century (all professional cricket)
Chris Gayle — 30 balls, for Royal Challengers Bangalore against Pune Warriors, IPL 2013. Gayle finished with 175 not out, still the highest individual score in T20 history. Several domestic assaults have threatened the 30-ball mark since; none has beaten it.
The fifty-record footnote everyone forgets
The fastest fifty in T20 internationals belongs to an Associate player, and it may be the least breakable speed record in cricket: 9 balls — six sixes then more — by Nepal’s Dipendra Singh Airee at the 2023 Asian Games. A 9-ball fifty requires near perfection; an 8-ball fifty requires actual perfection.
Why the speed records keep tumbling
Range-hitting coaches, shorter boundaries at some venues, and the T20 economy rewarding strike rate over survival have compressed what “fast” means every five years. The 27-ball T20I century will fall; the question is whether the 31-ball ODI hundred — set against a Full Member attack — ever does.
More records: the 25 greatest world records in cricket · highest individual scores
RecordsAB de VilliersFastest CenturyT20Finn Allen