Top 5 fastest team hundreds in the IPL ft. SRH
The advent of T20 cricket and various T20 leagues worldwide has revolutionized modern-day cricket.
Batsmen now dominate bowlers from the first ball of the innings and try to maximize the restrictions in the powerplay overs. The margin of error for bowlers, especially in T20 cricket, is minimal and any loose balls are dispatched to the boundary.
IPL 2024 has witnessed two of the fastest team hundreds in 35 matches so far.
On that note, here is a look at the top five fastest team hundreds in the IPL.
#1. 5 overs - Sunrisers Hyderabad vs Delhi Capitals in IPL 2024
The Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) created history by scoring the fastest team 100 in the history of the IPL. They achieved this feat against the Delhi Capitals (DC) on April 20, 2024, at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi.
SRH openers Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma started the onslaught from the first over of the innings. The first over bowled by Khaleel Ahmed yielded 19 overs. DC shifted to spin in the second over but Lalit Yadav was smashed for 21 runs. Rishabh Pant had to bring in his fastest and most experienced pacer Anrich Nortje for the third over and Head smashed him for 22 runs.
Lalit Yadav was smashed for three sixes in the fourth over as he once again conceded 21 runs. The experienced Kuldeep Yadav was smashed for two sixes from his first two deliveries by Sharma and at the end of five overs, SRH scored 103 runs without the loss of any wicket.
In this period, Head scored 62 from just 20 deliveries while Sharma scored 40 off 10. They scored 125 runs in the power-play overs and the DC bowling attack had no answers to the onslaught.
SRH went on to post a mammoth total of 266 for the loss of seven wickets in 20 overs and won the match by a huge margin of 67 runs.
#2. 6 overs - Chennai Super Kings vs Kings XI Punjab in IPL 2014
Qualifier 2 of IPL 2014 was played at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai between the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and the Kings XI Punjab (KXIP). Riding on a brilliant century (122 from 58 balls) from Virender Sehwag, KXIP scored a mammoth 226 for the loss of six wickets in 20 overs.
A target of 227 was a stiff one for CSK and they lost the wicket of Faf du Plessis on the very second ball of the run chase. Suresh Raina, batting at number three played one of the best innings ever to have been played in the history of IPL.
The southpaw scored 18 runs in the second over of the innings that was bowled by Sandeep Sharma. He completely dominated the KXIP bowling attack and scored 87 from just 25 balls, including 12 boundaries and six maximums.
CSK reached 100 for the loss of two in six overs. Raina was particularly harsh on Parvinder Awana, who was smashed for 33 runs in the sixth over of the innings.
Raina was dismissed on the first ball after the powerplay overs and CSK struggled thereafter. KXIP won the match by 24 runs.
#3. 6 overs - Kolkata Knight Riders vs Royal Challengers Bangalore in IPL 2017
Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) openers Chris Lynn and Sunil Narine smashed the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) bowlers to all parts of the ground on May 17, 2017, in Bangalore. The duo smashed 105 runs from six overs and hold the joint record for the second-fastest team 100 in the IPL.
Lynn and Narine made a mockery of a target of 159 set by RCB. Narine scored his half-century from just 16 balls. The southpaw scored at an astounding strike rate of 317.64 and smashed six boundaries and four maximums during his innings of 54. He was well supported by Lynn, who scored 50 from 22 balls.
A total of 11 boundaries and eight maximums were scored during the powerplay overs and KKR reached their 100 in 36 balls.
The hosts were comprehensively beaten by a margin of six wickets and 29 balls to spare.
#4. 6.5 overs - Chennai Super Kings vs Mumbai Indians in IPL 2015
CSK cruised past the 100-run mark from just 41 balls, a then-IPL record, on the night of April 17, 2015 at the Wankhede Stadium.
CSK openers Brendon McCullum and Dwayne Smith attacked the Mumbai Indians (MI) bowlers from the outset and even the experienced duo of Lasith Malinga and Harbhajan Singh were not spared.
Smith struck at a strike rate of 206.66 and scored 62 while McCullum scored 46 at a strike rate of 230. The duo smashed 14 boundaries and six maximums combined. CSK chased down the 184-run target with 20 balls to spare.
#5. 7 overs - Sunrisers Hyderabad vs Mumbai Indians in IPL 2024
Travis Head started attacking the MI bowlers from the third over of the innings, in which debutant Kwena Maphaka was smashed for 22 runs.
Gerald Coetzee was thereafter smashed for 23 runs during the sixth over of the innings and SRH scored 81 runs in six overs. During the said over, Head brought up his half-century in just 18 balls.
Abhishek Sharma smashed three sixes off the bowling of Piyush Chawla in the seventh over and SRH scored 100 in seven overs.
The night of March 27, 2024, in Hyderabad was special for SRH as they smashed 277, which was the then-highest team total in IPL history, for the loss of three wickets in 20 overs and emerged victorious by 31 balls.