New Zealand batter Sophie Devine on Thursday slammed the fastest hundred in the history of women’s T20 cricket in just 36 deliveries. She scripted history while playing for Wellington Blaze in New Zealand’s Super Smash competition.
The skipper of the New Zealand national team blazed nine sixes and nine fours in her innings of 108. She remained unbeaten from the 38 deliveries she played. Her side Wellington managed to chase down a victory target of 129 in just 8.4 overs against Otago Sparks.
The previous record of the fastest T20 ton in women’s cricket was held by West Indies’ Deandra Dottin. She hit a century in 38 balls against South Africa and retained the record since 2010 until Thursday when Devine edged her by two balls.
“I was really nervous this morning,” Devine told the media once the match was over.
“Whenever you have a bit of an extended break away from the game you get nervous about (whether) you can come back into it, so it was just (nice) to spend some time in the middle and get a few out of the screws,” she added.
Devine’s knock has also become the quickest T20 century in New Zealand in either men’s or women’s cricket. Her knock smashed the earlier record held by Tim Seifert who scored a T20 ton in 40 balls for Northern Districts against Auckland in Mount Maunganui in 2017.
There are only 10 faster centuries overall in men’s T20 cricket worldwide (including a 35-ball effort by Martin Guptill, again a Kiwi, for Worcestershire).
After two T20 hundreds last season, it was Devine’s second T20 century of the 2020-21 season after the century she scored for Perth Scorchers in November’s Women’s Big Bash League (WBBL), across the ditch.