23-year-old Tobago batsman Iraq Thomas smashes a 21-ball T20 century

File picture of bat, stumps and helmet

23-year-old Tobago batsman Iraq Thomas smashed a 21-ball century in the Tobago Cricket Association’s T20 tournament at Louis D’or on Sunday. Representing Scraborough/Mason Hall, he finished with an unbeaten 131 off 31 balls to help his side chase Speyside’s target of 152 in just eight overs.

Earlier in the day, Thomas showed his destructive hitting as he slammed a 53-ball 97 against Charlotteville but went one better in the second game, surely breaking the record for the fastest century. 

When Speyside won the toss and elected to bat, they would have been relatively content with their total of 151/7 in their quota of overs. But that proved to be nowhere near enough as Thomas and F Tyson made light work of the target as the fans started to depart the stadium as soon as eight overs as the target was achieved with consummate ease.

Thomas got to his century off just 21 balls and eventually finished unbeaten on 131 off just 31 balls with 15 sixes and five fours to his name. 

After the game, the former Trinidad and Tobago U-13 player spoke to the Trinidad Guardian. He said: “I was just very happy to reach my first T20 century. I have played cricket for a while and to get this century in the shortest format left me very happy. I played for Queen’s Park in Trinidad, so coming into this tournament I had some good experience having played at that level in Trinidad.”

The 23-year-old also revealed why he went after the bowlers right from the word go. 

“You can even chase down 180 on this ground because it is not the biggest and it gave me real confidence to go after the bowlers,” he added. “I never thought I would get the runs as quickly as I did but after hitting a few, I realised that something special can happen out there and it came through.”

Thomas was also a recipient of the 2015 Atlantic/Kieron Pollard Scholarship Award. The scolarship is aimed at providing an opportunity to develop by playing cricket in the United Kingdom for a two-month period during the summer vacation.

He also added that this scholarship was a major boost to his cricket and the experience of playing in England is one that will hold him in good stead going forward. He also also previously played for T&T U-13 team and also attended trials for the national U-19 team as well.