Stats: David Miller smashes fastest T20I century
In the second T20I between South Africa and Bangladesh, David Miller smashed the world record for fastest T20I century as he brought up his maiden T20I hundred off just 35 balls. The previous record for the fastest T20I century was held by another South African batsman, Richard Levi who scored it in 45 but the southpaw eclipsed that record by 10 balls in his blistering knock.
The 28-year-old just had a solitary fifty in 56 T20Is before this match but brought up his third T20 century in stunning fashion as he carted the penultimate over of the innings for 31 runs, including five successive sixes off the first five balls of the over bowled by Mohammad Saifuddin. In the end, he finished unbeaten on 101 from 36 balls with seven fours and nine sixes. His effort helped the Proteas post 224/4 in their 20 overs.
Miller also became the first batsman to score a T20I century in under 40. Going into the penultimate over, the southpaw wouldn't have harbored hopes of reaching his maiden T20I century. But the 19th over bowled by Mohammad Saifuddin went for 31 runs and Miller went into the final over needing just 12 runs to complete his third T20 ton and a couple off the first two balls of the final over of the innings and back-to-back twos helped him get to the mark in record time.
While Miller's knock was the fastest in T20Is, it is only the third-fastest in the history of T20Is. Chris Gayle still holds the T20 record for fastest century, courtesy his 30-ball century for Royal Challengers Bangalore against Pune Warriors at Bangalore in IPL 2013.
Aside from Gayle, Andrew Symonds (34-ball century for Kent against Middlesex in 2004) is the only other batsman to have scored a T20 century quicker than Miller.
The top three fastest T20I centurions are all batsmen from South Africa. Levi, who held the previous record achieved the record against New Zealand at Hamilton in 2012. Chasing 174 for victory, the Proteas got home with four overs to spare courtesy of Levi's 45-ball century, which remained the record for fastest T20I century for more than five years, before it was broken by his compatriot.
Among the ten fastest T20I centuries, Chris Gayle features twice while two Australians also make the cut along with India's KL Rahul and Brendon McCullum
Here is the complete list of the top ten fastest T20I centuries:
