Fastest Century in ODI Cricket: Top 10 Quickest Hundreds of All Time
The fastest century in ODI cricket is 31 balls, by AB de Villiers for South Africa against West Indies in Johannesburg on 18 January 2015. Corey Anderson (36 balls, 2014) and Shahid Afridi (37 balls, 1996) are second and third.
A hundred in a One-Day International is special. A hundred in fewer than 50 balls is something else. These are the quickest centuries ever scored in men’s ODI cricket, measured by the number of balls the batter faced to reach 100.
Top 10 fastest ODI hundreds
| Balls | Player | Team | Against | Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 31 | AB de Villiers | South Africa | West Indies, Johannesburg | 2015 |
| 36 | Corey Anderson | New Zealand | West Indies, Queenstown | 2014 |
| 37 | Shahid Afridi | Pakistan | Sri Lanka, Nairobi | 1996 |
| 40 | Glenn Maxwell | Australia | Netherlands, Delhi | 2023 |
| 41 | Asif Khan | UAE | Nepal, Kirtipur | 2023 |
| 44 | Mark Boucher | South Africa | Zimbabwe, Potchefstroom | 2006 |
| 45 | Brian Lara | West Indies | Bangladesh, Dhaka | 1999 |
| 45 | Shahid Afridi | Pakistan | India, Kanpur | 2005 |
| 46 | Jesse Ryder | New Zealand | West Indies, Queenstown | 2014 |
| 46 | Jos Buttler | England | Pakistan, Dubai | 2015 |
Ball counts follow the official scorecards most statisticians use. Some sources list Afridi’s 1996 hundred as 40 balls, based on later research.
Fastest ODI century for each major team
| Team | Player | Balls | Against | Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| South Africa | AB de Villiers | 31 | West Indies | 2015 |
| New Zealand | Corey Anderson | 36 | West Indies | 2014 |
| Pakistan | Shahid Afridi | 37 | Sri Lanka | 1996 |
| Australia | Glenn Maxwell | 40 | Netherlands | 2023 |
| West Indies | Brian Lara | 45 | Bangladesh | 1999 |
| England | Jos Buttler | 46 | Pakistan | 2015 |
| Sri Lanka | Sanath Jayasuriya | 48 | Pakistan | 1996 |
| India | Virat Kohli | 52 | Australia | 2013 |
Virat Kohli's 52-ball hundred in Jaipur in October 2013 is the fastest by an Indian man. In September 2025, Smriti Mandhana beat it with a 50-ball hundred against Australia, the fastest ODI century by any Indian player.
Fastest centuries in women's ODIs
The women's record belongs to Meg Lanning, who reached 100 in 45 balls for Australia against New Zealand in Sydney in 2012. Smriti Mandhana's 50-ball hundred in 2025 is the second fastest, ahead of Karen Rolton and Beth Mooney, who both needed 57 balls.
AB de Villiers: 31 balls (2015)
Batting against West Indies at the Wanderers in January 2015, de Villiers walked in late in the innings and scored 149 from 44 balls, hitting 16 sixes. He reached his fifty in 16 balls and his hundred in 31, both records at the time. More than a decade later, no one has beaten it in men’s ODIs.
Corey Anderson: 36 balls (2014)
On New Year’s Day 2014, in a rain-shortened 21-over match in Queenstown, Anderson smashed 131 not out from 47 balls with 14 sixes. His 36-ball hundred broke Shahid Afridi’s record, which had stood for 17 years. Jesse Ryder hit a 46-ball hundred in the same innings.
Shahid Afridi: 37 balls (1996)
Aged just 16 according to his official date of birth at the time, Afridi was sent in at number three against Sri Lanka in Nairobi in his first ODI innings. He hit 102 with 11 sixes and his record stood until 2014.
Glenn Maxwell: 40 balls (2023)
At the 2023 World Cup in Delhi, Maxwell hit a 40-ball hundred against the Netherlands, the fastest century in World Cup history. A few weeks later he scored an unbeaten 201 against Afghanistan, one of the greatest ODI innings ever played.
Why are these records so hard to beat?
ODI fielding restrictions limit how many fielders can stand outside the 30-yard circle, so big hitters can clear the boundary more often in the powerplays and at the end of the innings. Even so, scoring 100 in under 40 balls means hitting at a strike rate of well over 250 for an extended spell, which is why only three men have ever done it in under 40 balls.
Can you score that quickly? Try the Super Over Challenge and see how many sixes you can hit in six balls, or read our list of the most sixes in international cricket and the fastest centuries in Test, ODI and T20I cricket.