Martin Guptill Slams Joint-fourth Fastest T20 Century

New Zealand star Martin Guptill struck a 35-ball T20 century as Worcestershire thrashed Northamptonshire by nine wickets in English county cricket’s Twenty20 Blast on Friday.

Guptill reached his hundred off just 35 balls. It is the second-fastest in English T20 and joint-fourth fastest in all T20. The 35-ball ton is behind only the English-record 34-ball ton Australian Andrew Symonds smashed for Kent against Middlesex in 2004.

Guptill hit seven sixes and 12 fours in his scintillating knock as the Rapids rushed to their target 188 with 41 ball remaining. Guptill and Joe Clarke (61no off 33) added 162 runs for the first wicket off just overs to lay the foundation for an easy win.

Incredible batting by @Martyguptill for @WorcsCCC!

He smashes a 35-ball ? – the joint-fourth fastest in T20 history

Watch every boundary: https://t.co/6e9L3hEVde pic.twitter.com/a13mMgC0z1

— Vitality Blast (@VitalityBlast) July 27, 2018

Guptill got into his groove when he slammed Richard Gleeson for 22 runs in an over.  The over contained a six and three fours. South Africa’s Rory Kleinveldt replaced Gleeson but it did not make any difference. Guptill hit him for 22 runs too and raced away to his fifty off just 20 balls.

He brought up his century in style, straight driving Kyle Coetzer for four and then flicking over midwicket for six to enter the triple-digits. His assault was finally ended by Gleeson but by that time he had already inflicted the damage. He scored 102 off just 38 balls.

Chris Gayle’s 30-ball hundred for Royal Challengers Bangalore against Pune in the IPL in 2013 remains the quickest century in T20. Rishabh Pant is second in the list for his 32-ball ton for Delhi against Himachal Pradesh.

Rohit Sharma, David Miller and Louis van der Westhuizen jointly hold the record for quickest century in T20 International.

Guptill’s record in T20I cricket is also impressive. He is one of the few men to have scored a century in the shortest format of the game. What is even more impressive that he has scored two T20I tons. The highest run-scorer in T20Is, Gutpull has scored 2,271 runs in T20Is so far with the help of 2 centuries and 14 fifties.