Fastest Century in ODI: Records, Lists, and Expert Analysis

Cricket keeps its most intoxicating secrets for those who understand tempo. In the one‑day format, nothing warps time like a rapid hundred. A batter closing in on three figures with half the overs unused forces the field to rearrange, pressures captains into gambling with lengths, and leaves scoreboard pressure in shreds. The fastest century in ODI history is the sharpest blade of that skillset — a study in intent, match awareness, mechanics, and conditions aligning for a brief, blazing act.

What follows is a long-form, deeply reported guide to the fastest ODI century — the record itself, the record progression, contextual lists (World Cups, teams, venues, batting positions), and the tactical truths that sit beneath the headline. This is written from the vantage point of someone who has watched these knocks live, sat through captains’ debriefs, and quizzed analysts on why certain grounds, bowlers, and wind directions keep appearing in the stories of rapid hundreds.

At a glance: current record and key markers

• All-time fastest century in ODI cricket: AB de Villiers reached his hundred in 31 balls against West Indies at Johannesburg. The innings was detonative from ball one, exploiting altitude, a small square dimension, and bowlers who missed wide lines facing short boundaries.
• Fastest century in ODI World Cup play: Glenn Maxwell raised his hundred in 40 balls against Netherlands in Delhi. Reverse-sweeps and picks over midwicket met a low, skiddy surface and lightning outfield.
• Record progression (all ODIs): Shahid Afridi’s 37-ball landmark stood for ages before Corey Anderson cut it to 36. AB de Villiers then collapsed the ceiling to 31.

What the record actually measures

The “fastest ODI century” is strictly about balls faced to reach 100, not strike rate across an innings. A batter who reaches 100 in 45 balls at a strike rate over 200 early might slow down later; the record locks in the century speed at the moment the batter hits triple figures. Dot balls during wides/no-balls aren’t counted as balls faced. Singles off a no-ball don’t count as a ball faced either; the free-hit ball does. This precision matters when you analyze innings that combine boundary clusters with canny strike rotation.

All-time fastest ODI centuries: the definitive core

The heart of this topic — and where most searchers land — is a short, definitive spine of records. Here is the clean core you can rely on.

• AB de Villiers: 31 balls vs West Indies, Johannesburg.

  A display of range and decision-making off the charts. He started late in the innings with South Africa already motoring and turned the last segment into electric time, mixing pick-up pulls with inside-out lofts and the sort of down-the-track back-of-length hitting that forces seamers to panic.

• Corey Anderson: 36 balls vs West Indies, Queenstown.

  A small ground, a fresh white ball flying off a heavy bat, wind at his back, and a hitting arc tailor-made for the straight boundaries. What set Anderson apart that day was his balance — he held his base even when aiming to hit everything for six.

• Shahid Afridi: 37 balls vs Sri Lanka, Nairobi.

  The knock that taught a generation what “fearless” could look like. Afridi’s bat speed and arc were ahead of their time. He kept the ball flat and hard into open spaces, especially midwicket and long-on, using a heavy bottom hand to meet length with violence.

Sub-fifty-ball hundreds that define eras

A cluster of innings rounds out the pantheon. The exact order beneath the top rung is a close contest in the sub‑50-ball band, but these are the defining entries you’ll keep seeing in any serious ODI fastest century list:

• Glenn Maxwell: 40 balls vs Netherlands, Delhi (World Cup record).

  Switch-hits on command, heavy use of the crease, and a template that punished anything marginally off length. The outfield sped to the fence almost in defiance of physics.

• Mark Boucher: 44 balls vs Zimbabwe.

  A wicketkeeper’s brutality packaged into clean, repeatable swings. He targeted the V with mechanical efficiency.

• Shahid Afridi: 45 balls vs India, Kanpur.

  A confirmation, not an outlier. Against spin and pace he flattened length and turned gaps into exits for the ball.

• Jesse Ryder: 46 balls vs West Indies, Queenstown.

  In the same match that saw Anderson detonate the record, Ryder teed off with a left-hander’s arc through midwicket and wide long-on. Seamers kept offering him chest-high pace; he didn’t miss.

• Jos Buttler: 46 balls vs Pakistan, UAE.

  Buttler’s in-to-out hitting, power through the line, and late-swinging wrists against yorker length stood out. He effectively removed the bowler’s margin for error.

• Sanath Jayasuriya: 48 balls vs Pakistan, Singapore.

  The prototype for modern ODI aggression. He smashed the template when field restrictions were first used to engineer a new opening philosophy.

• Aiden Markram: 49 balls vs Sri Lanka, Delhi (World Cup).

  A top-order hitter with classical timing playing like a finisher. He balanced high elbow elegance with short-arm pulls that never lost shape.

A compact reference table

The list below focuses on accuracy and clarity. It isn’t an exhaustive top‑50 table, but it captures the essential “fastest 100 in ODI” landmarks that fans and analysts refer to most.

Player	Balls to 100	Opposition	Venue	Notes
AB de Villiers	31	West Indies	Johannesburg	All-time record; altitude and short square boundaries accentuated lofted hitting
Corey Anderson	36	West Indies	Queenstown	Wind and tiny straight boundaries; base stability was elite
Shahid Afridi	37	Sri Lanka	Nairobi	Arc and bat speed redefined what was possible in ODIs
Glenn Maxwell	40	Netherlands	Delhi	Fastest century in ODI World Cup history; boundary salad of reverses and picks
Mark Boucher	44	Zimbabwe	Potchefstroom	Brutal down-the-ground mechanics against seam and spin
Shahid Afridi	45	India	Kanpur	Emphatic statement in subcontinent conditions
Jesse Ryder	46	West Indies	Queenstown	Partner to Anderson’s carnage; left-handed leverage through leg-side
Jos Buttler	46	Pakistan	UAE	Yorkers punished; handspeed made wide lines futile
Sanath Jayasuriya	48	Pakistan	Singapore	Birth of the pinch-hitter era in ODIs
Aiden Markram	49	Sri Lanka	Delhi	Classical meets modern; set the World Cup mark briefly before Maxwell

A note on completeness: The “next tier” includes numerous 50-ball centuries that are culturally and tactically seminal — Kevin O’Brien’s giant-slaying chase in Bangalore, Virat Kohli’s powerplay sprint in a high chase at Jaipur, and rapid hundreds across the Caribbean and Australia that re-shaped how teams approach overs 36–50. Because the record table shifts with every international season, use a regularly updated database for the long tail. The list above anchors the conversation.

World Cup fastest centuries: the tournament pressure cooker

The ODI World Cup changes what a fast hundred means. Bowling plans are prepared for months. Fielders study batters’ favorite angles. Captains play the long game with fifth-bowler overs and new-ball pairing. Within that pressure, a World Cup fastest hundred requires clean ball-striking and an almost clinical belief that risk is a resource, not a sin.

• Fastest ODI World Cup century: Glenn Maxwell, 40 balls vs Netherlands, Delhi. The innings is a blueprint for modern risk-taking. Pre-meditation was visible but disguised by late hands. He walked across and picked up length over fine leg, then froze bowlers with the threat of the reverse. Even full and wide wasn’t safe — the forearms sliced those too.
• The lead-in marker: Aiden Markram, 49 balls vs Sri Lanka, same tournament. It set a new standard for top-order hitters in global tournaments — urgency without slogging, aerobic calm between overs, and an aura that forced captains to bottle overs for later, only to discover that “later” never arrived.
• Historical lodestars: Kevin O’Brien’s 50-ball chase hundred vs England in a packed-night Bangalore changed how fourth-fifth bowling plans were viewed against Associates. And Jayasuriya’s early-tournament mayhem in the pinch-hitter era opened the gateway for teams to gift more liberty to openers.

Team-wise fastest ODI centuries: a quick guide to national benchmarks

For fans who follow teams as much as records, “fastest century for India in ODI,” “fastest century for Pakistan,” and similar queries matter because they map style to identity. Here are dependable anchors:

• South Africa: AB de Villiers (31) defines the national marker. South Africa’s relationship with altitude, bat speed, and a tradition of technically precise hitters makes their sub‑50-ball hundreds feel inevitable at certain venues. Aiden Markram’s World Cup rocket added new-gloss evidence.
• Australia: Glenn Maxwell’s 40-ball World Cup hundred is the team’s clear apex. Australia’s ODI method oscillates between ruthlessly scripted starts and a finisher-led explosion. Maxwell is the modern summation — 360-degree options, rapid decision-making, and fearless manipulation of angles.
• Pakistan: Shahid Afridi’s 37-ball stamp at Nairobi and the mid-40s ball fireworks vs India set the standard. Pakistani white-ball DNA includes batters who hit length as if it offends them, kickers of pace, and men who believe that line and length can be unlearned by the bowler with one over of damage.
• India: The benchmark sits in the low-50s from Virat Kohli’s pace-in-chase in Jaipur — a template innings for algorithmic chase design in India: minimal dots, high-quality strike rotation, punish errors. Many explosive hundreds have lived in the 60–70 ball band, but sub‑55 at international level, in context, is elite.
• England: Jos Buttler’s 46-ball spree vs Pakistan is a modern English white-ball thesis. England built their recent ODI era on permission: everyone has license to swing earlier, take the straight boundary, and trust depth. Buttler’s hands are exceptionally quick; his base is deceptively still.
• Sri Lanka: Sanath Jayasuriya’s 48-ball foundation is the cultural crater. Later generations — Kusal Perera, Thisara Perera, and others — grew in that wake, but the resource that changed ODI opening play across the world was Jayasuriya’s courage to break convention.
• New Zealand: Corey Anderson’s 36-ball thunderclap is the apex, with Jesse Ryder’s 46 in the same ground/fixture reinforcing how Queenstown’s geometry, wind, and deck amplify well-timed hitting.
• Bangladesh: Mushfiqur Rahim carved the national fastest hundred in 60 balls, a leap that symbolized Bangladesh’s evolution from attritional ODI batting to modern tempo. Before that, Shakib Al Hasan’s benchmark had defined the speed limit.
• Afghanistan: The nation’s batting graph is rising fast. The fastest ODI hundreds for Afghanistan live outside the sub‑50 orbit for now, but the combination of fearless top-order hitters and a willingness to attack spin suggests it’s a “when,” not “if,” a truly rapid ton arrives.
• West Indies: The region’s batters have authored unforgettable ODI brutality. Whether it’s the clean, high, straight arc of Chris Gayle or the muscular clubbing of lower‑order finishers, the Caribbean school is built for pace off the bat. Their fastest mark sits in the aggressive 40s–50s range, refreshed across eras.

Record progression timeline: Afridi → Anderson → AB de Villiers (and the World Cup fork)

Records feel random until you trace the physics.

• Shahid Afridi’s breakthrough at Nairobi did more than set a number. It proved that bat speed, when allied to a simple trigger (back and across to cover off stump), could punish “good length” balls. Bowlers back then expected respect for a hard length; Afridi answered with flat missiles.
• Corey Anderson at Queenstown showed that bat speed plus base equals violence without loss of shape. Thanks to small straight boundaries and a helpful breeze, good length and back-of-a-length received equal punishment. It revealed the dark side of defensive change-ups in a small ground with a quick pitch: if the change-up sits, there’s no saving it.
• AB de Villiers at Johannesburg broke the modeling tools. He came in late with South Africa already well beyond par and batted a “premeditated reactive” style — he guessed intelligently, adjusted instantly. If bowlers went wide yorker, he sliced; if they missed the blockhole by a finger, he clubbed down the ground; bouncers met the pick-up pull. Once he removed the short boundary’s fear factor, the field spread looked ornamental.
• World Cup progression has its own branch: Aiden Markram threw down a new gauntlet for top-order velocity in world tournaments. Glenn Maxwell then simplified chaos — all angles available, constant threat of the reverse, and a tempo so high that captains had no time to reset fields or hand over to the banker seamer.

Why certain grounds keep appearing

• Johannesburg (Wanderers): Altitude plus short square boundaries equals unforgiving punishment for anything fractionally short or wide. Seamers’ natural back-of-a-length instinct is a liability here once a batter is set and seeing it big.
• Queenstown: Small straight boundaries, wind patterns that can add meters to well-struck lofts, and a surface that makes hitting through the line rewarding. The ground punishes timid yorkers that miss by inches.
• Delhi (Arun Jaitley): A surface that, when rolled hard, can play skiddy for seam and sit up for spin if the pace off is too frequent. The outfield is lethally quick. Reverses carry because the square region is so fast.
• Nairobi Gymkhana: A surprisingly quick outfield with value for cross‑batted lofts in the V, and in the Afridi era, fielding standards that had not yet caught up to the power game.
• Singapore (Padang): The combination of early pinch-hitter ethos and a surface that let the ball skid onto the bat enabled Jayasuriya’s line-breaking assault in the opening overs.

The tactical anatomy of a sub‑50-ball hundred

• Early overs: maximal returns from field restrictions. The best exponents treat the circle as a map of invitations rather than barriers. The outside edge to third for four isn’t luck when a batter opens the face late to a wide seamer. The inside-out loft over cover is the anti-field: it punishes a safe length.
• Middle-phase compression: even dot balls are strategic. The best fast-hundred makers allow one dot if the next two balls are boundary-balls. They hunt match-ups — part-time spin, newer bowler, or a seamer bowling into the breeze — and they detach ego from singles, resetting instantly when they don’t get the ball they want.
• Death overs: premeditation without predictability. A batter who knows the yorker is coming prepares multiple answers: step across to convert to a length ball, stand deep to turn it into a half-volley, or move leg-side to open up the off-side. The elite ones can also hit the slow bouncer with a strong front arm, preventing the end-overs bailout.
• Risk management: small margins, big nets. Notice how Maxwell or ABD accept a play-and-miss across a cluster of shots without losing shape next ball. That emotional equilibrium underpins the mechanical gifts.

Fastest ODI century in a chase: the moral weight of the number

Chase hundreds carry gravitational pull. The crowd senses it, the dressing room breathes it in. The clearest north star for “fastest ODI century in a chase” remains Kevin O’Brien’s 50-ball masterpiece against England. The innings didn’t just chase runs; it chased a psychological barrier. He found the seam of chaos, forced bowlers to miss plans, and converted the innings from “plucky” to “inevitable.”

Other rapid chases — from Virat Kohli’s sub‑55 sprint in a mammoth Indian pursuit to English white-ball surges from the Buttler–Bairstow school — show a common thread: once a fast chaser finds 10–15 runs above par across a ten-over stretch, bowling captains are out of levers.

Batting position filters: where speed lives

• Openers: Jayasuriya created the template; modern openers inherit it. When the ball skids on and fields are in, the fastest centuries often sprout here. But openers still must navigate movement. The fastest openers’ hundreds usually coincide with minimal swing and pace that sits up.
• No. 3/No. 4: AB de Villiers proved the middle order can outpace openers when the platform is massive and the deck flat. The best at these positions leverage field spread, not field restrictions — they hit into spaces the captain vacates.
• No. 5/No. 6: Finisher territory. Jos Buttler’s 46-ball hundred lives here — hands, wrists, and the mental gear to start at a strike rate north of 200 from ball one.
• No. 7 and below: Rare air. To do it this low, a batter needs an entry when the ball is old, the field is defensive, and bowlers are guarding yorkers. The trick is to make the wide yorker, the supposed safety valve, into a scoring ball through late slicing and elastic wrists.

Opposition filters: why some attacks keep suffering

• “Bang-it-in” seam teams with short square boundaries are vulnerable. If the plan lives at back-of-a-length and the square is short, you are handing free leverage to modern hitters.
• Spin-heavy attacks without a banker at the death. If a team lacks a spinner who can bowl flatter and wider to deny arc, or a seamer who can nail lengths under pressure, the last third of the innings becomes a gallery.
• Associate attacks with a shallow death-overs toolbox. When top-tier finishers face less experienced end-game bowlers, the margin goes from slim to none. But the romantic flipside is true too: we’ve seen Associates flip the script with fearless batters who refuse to be bluffed.

Venue heatmap: where fast hundreds are born

• Altitude: Johannesburg remains a cheat code for in-the-arc contact. Ball carry transforms good contacts into home runs.
• Breeze: Queenstown exemplifies how wind adds distance to well-struck lofts. Captains must adjust, bowling into the wind to force the batter to hit against it, even if the angle feels wrong.
• Outfield friction: Delhi’s belt-sander outfield means even mis-hits pierce the ring. On such grounds, a 40-ball hundred isn’t a fantasy; it’s a risk-managed plan.
• Square dimensions: Short squares weaponize the pull and the reverse sweep. When a batter can’t be denied square, the only bailout is perfect yorkers, something few attacks can guarantee for six overs straight.

Related records to complete the picture

• Fastest 50 in ODI: Often a leading indicator for a potential fastest 100. Watch out for batters who cross fifty inside the first dozen overs of their stay — if the match context allows, they frequently turn the dial past 100 with minimal friction.
• Fastest 150 in ODI: The ones who hold shape post-hundred and continue attacking at the same rate sit here. AB de Villiers, Jos Buttler, and Glenn Maxwell live comfortably in this realm where the bat swing doesn’t deteriorate with fatigue.
• Fastest 200 in ODI: Rarer by definition and heavily condition-dependent. Double hundreds require not only a fast start but also stamina and strike rotation to avoid long stretches of dots between boundary bursts.
• Most sixes in an ODI hundred: A cousin of the fastest-century record. Big six counts usually come with a small ground, flat deck, and bowlers missing their end-game plans. The physicality of modern batters and bat technology magnify this.
• Highest strike rate with an ODI hundred: A purist’s statistic, often not identical to the “fastest hundred.” A batter might reach a hundred in 46 and finish on 120 off 52; another might hit a hundred in 52 and blaze to 160 off 70. The finishing overs tilt strike rate.

The mechanics of speed: batters’ techniques that repeat

• Base and balance: Watch how the best fast-century makers keep their head over off stump, even while stepping across. It keeps their swing plane honest and their view of the yorker clean.
• Handspeed vs. bat path: Afridi’s bat speed was ferocious but the path was consistent — mid-to-high slots through leg-side. AB’s path was more elastic; he could swing down and across with late hands, bending the ball’s trajectory through third man even for boundaries.
• Picking length early: The ball that sits on a fraction of a length is the lifeblood of a fast hundred. Maxwell and Buttler are savants at reading seamers out of the hand and choosing the right option — scoop, slice, or slam — inside the first three frames of the ball’s flight.
• Using the crease: Standing deep turns yorkers into half‑volleys; shuffling across turns a short ball into a slot for the pick-up. Those two moves, done late, turn bowlers’ end-game stock balls into problems for the bowler, not the batter.
• Eco-system management: Modern teams give hitters permission. A dressing room that doesn’t punish a failed risk encourages the next one to land. England’s white-ball culture is a case study in that permission generating output like Buttler’s mid-40s-ball century.

Strategic splits: first innings vs. chases

• Setting a target: The fastest ODI centuries often arrive here because the batter is liberated from the scoreboard. With wickets in hand and a platform, hitters spend five or six balls mapping lines and lengths, then raze the final overs.
• Chasing: A fast hundred in a chase has an extra layer — the need to deny dot-ball clusters. That pressure cultivates a specific pattern: take your boundary when it comes but never let singles dry up. Kohli’s tempo-mastery is instructive; he mixes muscular control with a compliance to the game’s demands.
• Win percentage: Teams featuring a batter who reaches a hundred inside the first half of his stay tend to win big. But there’s a caveat — ultra-fast hundreds in ashes of collapses don’t save results; they try to reject the inevitable. The most valuable fast hundreds are those that fit the match narrative, not those that fight it.

Umpiring and counting nuances: why “balls faced” matters more than ever

Precision around balls faced has become hawk-eyed in the broadcast era. Wides don’t count. No-balls don’t count (unless you face the free-hit ball). A runner’s involvement in older matches or a mid-innings injury can introduce scoring table quirks, but modern systems align closely between on-field and broadcast. This isn’t trivia. When AB de Villiers hit a handful of sixes off valid deliveries that followed wides, the match’s rhythm felt like warp speed; the ledger, correctly, ignored the wides for the count to hundred.

Mindset and the unseen work

• Net architecture: Finisher nets are not throwdown carnivals. They involve pre-scripted over plans: two wide yorkers, one slower bouncer, a knuckle-ball full, then a reverse plan. Hitters train to the bowler’s plan, not an imaginary world where every ball is a half-volley.
• Data to feel: Analysts present heatmaps; batters translate them into feel. Where is the bowler’s “miss”? What does his slower ball do off the surface in this venue? Once distilled into feel, the brain executes faster under pressure.
• Breathing and reset rituals: After a six, the best hitters visibly reset — gloves pulled, a breath, eyes to the sightscreen. It prevents the adrenaline spike from shrinking the swing plane or closing the front shoulder.
• Bat care and weight: The modern bat’s thick edge and light pickup enable late acceleration. Many hitters keep two bats — one slightly heavier for when the ball is older and slower, the other featherlight for high-pace bowling.

Comparative lens: AB de Villiers vs Corey Anderson vs Shahid Afridi

• Architecture of their knocks: Afridi’s arc is old-school brutality — less switch-hitting, more demolition of length. Anderson’s geometry is straight and leg-side heavy, thriving on shorter straight boundaries. AB’s map is everywhere: third-man dab for four, midwicket flat for six, cover sliced on the up.
• Match context: Afridi’s breakout lived in a tournament environment with looser death plans. Anderson capitalized on a perfect storm of venue and opposition. AB blended both — high-level opposition and a forgiving ground — but his unique addition was how quickly he processed every ball’s phase.
• Reproducibility: You can train to be Anderson-like in the right conditions. You can adopt Afridi’s intent with the right courage and arc. It’s far harder to reproduce AB’s decision-making speed and angle manipulation. That’s why his 31-ball mark feels different; it’s equal parts skills and cognition.

Since the latest rule changes: what’s changed, what hasn’t

• Fielding restrictions evolved. Early overs might give you more bait outside the ring; middle overs can be trickier with shrewder use of fielders in catching positions. The net effect: top-order batters willing to go aerial early are rewarded; those who hesitate are swallowed by intelligent ring fields.
• Death bowling has diversified. Slower ball varieties, the heavy length into the pitch, and wider yorkers that kiss the return crease have multiplied. Yet the best hitters have also diversified: lap shots to kill the wide yorker, deep-crease positioning to counter the blockhole, and late hands to find backward point even from length.
• Spin has become a valid end-game option. Wristspinners with courage and speed off the surface can choke boundary balls if they land them. But the risk remains: a half-tracker will disappear at these venues, and reverse sweeps reduce line-protection.

The expanding universe: country- and venue-specific lenses

• India: Fastest century for India in ODI terms is a Virat Kohli special in the low-50s in a chase, a signpost for India’s method — calculated risk, relentless rotation. With smaller grounds in some venues and quicker outfields, the next step down that ladder can come at any time if a finisher is given enough runway.
• Pakistan: Karachi and Lahore have witnessed a revival of power hitting on souped-up pitches. A fully primed Pakistani top order is one sustained run of white-ball games away from another sub‑50. The lower order’s hitting cameos hint that the style is in the system.
• Australia: Adelaide, Sydney, Melbourne — on the right day, all are friendly for speed. Maxwell remains the modern totem, but watch the generation behind him; the skills are no longer specialist, they’re taught.
• England: The rebooted English ODI doctrine means one of their openers or finishers can go sub‑50 when the deck is flat. Smallish grounds like Bristol or Nottingham have hosted tempo that looks like T20 grafted onto ODI.
• South Africa: Highveld venues will always be tied to this record because of altitude and culture. Wanderers is tattooed on the mythology of rapid hundreds.
• Bangladesh: Dhaka and Sylhet produce different stories. On low, sticky decks, a 60-ball hundred is a minor miracle; when the pitch is truer, the outfield quick, batters can sprint.
• Sri Lanka: Colombo can be two different grounds depending on surface prep — tacky for spin or skiddy and fast. On the latter, Jayasuriya’s ghost roams free.
• New Zealand: Christchurch and Queenstown for speed when the breeze and deck play ball. Wellington’s drop-in can be quicker than it looks if the ball kisses on.
• West Indies: In Antigua or Grenada on featherbeds, any good day has the seeds of a rapid hundred. Caribbean hitters love straight, love leg-side, and love a breeze.
• Afghanistan (home and away): With “home” often a neutral venue in the Gulf, some Afghan ODIs happen on fast outfields under dry skies. A perfect laboratory for an audacious sub‑60 — the next frontier is coupling that with sustained dot-ball control.

Most sixes in a fast ODI hundred: the sibling story

Some fast hundreds are boundary‑heavy, others are doubles-and-singles punctuated by clusters of sixes. The innings we think of as “iconic fast hundreds” tend to have extraordinary six counts:

• Corey Anderson’s small-ground rocket was a sixes avalanche. When you watch the wagon wheel, the straight corridor is painted red.
• AB de Villiers mixed six-hitting with two‑ and three-run bursts, a reminder that he never trapped himself into “must hit a six every ball.”
• Maxwell’s World Cup record combined variety (reverses for four become energy too) with the occasional brutal thump into the stands.

A tactical curiosity: fastest 50 and 100 in the same ODI innings

These are rare because they require a player to maintain a peak for longer than most humans can. When it happens, it reflects two skills: the ability to come in hot (strike rate above 200 early), and the stamina to keep the swing quick without losing shape. Hits like these are the lifeblood of an ODI juggernaut — they end the game long before the innings does.

Coaching insights: how the best prepare to chase the record

• Scenario training: Bowlers tell batters their plan before the net session. Hitters log solutions — scoop to kill wide yorker, reverse to rob third, step across for the pick-up. They train options, not just outcomes.
• Data to feel: Analysts present heatmaps; batters translate them into feel. Where is the bowler’s “miss”? What does his slower ball do off the surface in this venue? Once distilled into feel, the brain executes faster under pressure.
• Breathing and reset rituals: After a six, the best hitters visibly reset — gloves pulled, a breath, eyes to the sightscreen. It prevents the adrenaline spike from shrinking the swing plane or closing the front shoulder.
• Bat care and weight: The modern bat’s thick edge and light pickup enable late acceleration. Many hitters keep two bats — one slightly heavier for when the ball is older and slower, the other featherlight for high-pace bowling.

Common confusions cleared up

• Fastest century versus highest strike rate: Not the same thing. A batter could reach 100 at warp speed and then slow for tactical reasons, finishing with a lower overall strike rate than another batter who built slower and finished on a tear.
• “Balls faced” counting quirks: Wides and no-balls don’t count towards balls faced; what follows does. Leg-byes and byes don’t count as balls faced either. When commissioning a database or copying stats, ensure the feed calibrates those details — otherwise, you create phantom records.
• Why sub-50s cluster in modern times: Two new balls, bat technology, and deeper batting lineups create perfect conditions. Add better outfields and more protective gear that encourages brave positions at the crease, and the game incentivizes aggression.

Practical takeaways for fans and analysts

• If you want to anticipate a fast ODI hundred, look at three pre-match signals:
  • Venue geometry and outfield speed
  • Bowling attack’s death-overs options
  • Match context (platforms and batting depth)
• If a set batter enters the final 12 overs with license and at least one favorable match-up on the field, the fastest-century threat is real.
• When a batter surpasses fifty by the halfway mark of his stay, watch the next 12 balls. That stretch often determines whether the innings becomes special or merely efficient.

A living record: recency and updates

What keeps the “fastest ODI century list” alive is how closely it tracks the sport’s evolving risk appetite. Maxwell’s World Cup detonation arrived in a tournament where bowlers had studied him for years; he still ran ahead of models. AB’s 31 remains the number to chase — simple, stark, and intimidating — but the gap between what is possible and what is probable has narrowed. In the right conditions, with the right hitter, a sub‑30-balls-to-hundred is not an absurd thought. It’s the sport’s next dare.

Quick answers (for the searcher in a hurry)

• Fastest century in ODI history: AB de Villiers, 31 balls, against West Indies in Johannesburg.
• Fastest century in an ODI World Cup: Glenn Maxwell, 40 balls, against Netherlands in Delhi.
• Fastest ODI hundreds by team benchmarks: South Africa (AB de Villiers 31), Australia (Glenn Maxwell 40), Pakistan (Shahid Afridi 37), India (Virat Kohli low‑50s), England (Jos Buttler 46), Sri Lanka (Sanath Jayasuriya 48), New Zealand (Corey Anderson 36), Bangladesh (Mushfiqur Rahim 60). Others are catching up fast.
• Most iconic chase-side rocket: Kevin O’Brien’s 50-ball hundred in Bangalore remains the glow-in-the-dark example.

Closing perspective: why this record matters

Records tend to calcify into trivia, but the fastest ODI century is a living test of what a batter can dare. It sits at the crossroads of mechanics, emotion, and pressure. The number isn’t just a count; it’s a statement of how boldly a batter trusts his preparation, how ruthlessly a team scripts end games, and how quickly the modern player can solve the problem in front of him.

Shahid Afridi lit the fuse. Corey Anderson showed the fuse could be shorter. AB de Villiers turned the fuse into a flash. Aiden Markram and Glenn Maxwell transplanted that flash into the World Cup pressure cooker. Somewhere, in a net where a coach is feeding wide yorkers and a hitter is shaping reverses, the next push is being rehearsed. When it comes, it will look inevitable in hindsight — and that’s the most exciting part of this record. It always does.