Scoring a hundred in the T20 format is a massive feat. More so at the international stage in the World Cup, a T20I hundred is scarce. So far, in the history of the competition, only eight centuries have been scored. We could expect a few more in the 2021 edition of the T20 World Cup, which will be held in the UAE and Oman from October 17th. On that note, in this article, we take a look at seven players who have scored a century in the T20 World Cup.
1) Chris Gayle – 2 Centuries
Score – 117(57) || Strike Rate – 205.26 || Opposition – South Africa || Year – 2007 || Venue – Johannesburg
Score – 100(48)* || Strike Rate – 208.33 || Opposition – England || Year – 2016 || Venue – Mumbai
Chris Gayle is the only player so far to have scored two centuries in the T20 World Cup. Incidentally, these two centuries are the only two hundreds that the Jamaican has scored in his T20I career. In the very first game of the T20 World Cup history, Gayle scored a hundred. While that was in 2007, he scored another one recently in 2016. So far, the southpaw has made 920 runs in 28 T20 World Cup matches.
2) Suresh Raina – 1 Century
Score – 101(60) || Strike Rate – 168.33 || Opposition – South Africa || Year – 2010 || Venue – Gros Islet
One of the very few Indians to have got a century in all three formats of the game, Suresh Raina is the only player from the country to be part of this list of players who have scored a century in the T20 World Cup. Batting at No.3 for India in the 2010 edition, Suresh scored 101 runs which helped India set up a target of 187. India eventually won the game by 14 runs.
3) Mahela Jayawardene
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– 1 Century
Score – 100(64) || Strike Rate – 156.25 || Opposition – Zimbabwe || Year – 2010 || Venue – Providence
Mahela Jayawardene is the highest run-scorer in the history of the T20 World Cup. He is also the only batsman to have notched up over 1000 runs in the tournament. In 31 matches, the Sri Lankan legend brought up 1016 runs at an average of 39.07. Against Zimbabwe in 2010, Mahela scored a century while opening the batting. Sri Lanka later won the game convincingly.
4) Brendon McCullum – 1 Century
Score – 123(58) || Strike Rate – 212.06 || Opposition – Bangladesh || Year – 2012 || Venue – Pallekele
Having made more than 2000 runs in T20I cricket, Brendon McCullum was one of the most popular faces in the format. Apart from starting IPL on a blistering note, Bazz has also done well in the T20 World Cup. Out of the two T20I centuries that he has scored, one of them was at the ICC event. In the game against Bangladesh, he batted at a strike rate of over 200 to bring up his only century in T20 WC.
5) Alex Hales – 1 Century
Score – 116(64)* || Strike Rate – 181.25 || Opposition – Sri Lanka || Year – 2014 || Venue – Chattogram
Alex Hales is also one of the players who have scored a century in the T20 World Cup. The big-hitting English opener helped his nation complete a tough chase of 190 runs against Sri Lanka in 2014. He put on a good partnership with Eoin Morgan to complete the chase. Since 2019, Hales has not played for his country.
6) Ahmed Shehzad – 1 Century
Score – 111(62)* || Strike Rate – 179.03 || Opposition – Bangladesh || Year – 2014 || Venue – Dhaka
Ahmed Shehzad was a promising cricketer for Pakistan before controversies hampered his progress. In 2014, he struck a century against Bangladesh and became the first Pakistani batsman to achieve the feat. In the Group game against the subcontinental neighbours, Shehzad opened the batting and scored 111 runs. Pakistan won this game with ease.
7) Tamim Iqbal – 1 Century
Score – 103(63)* || Strike Rate – 163.49 || Opposition – Oman || Year – 2016 || Venue – Dharmasala
One of the most consistent cricketers for Bangladesh in recent years, Tamim Iqbal’s only T20I century is in a World Cup. In 2016, against relatively easier opponents Oman, Tamim was in top form. He took 63 deliveries to score 103 runs, and then Bangladesh restricted Oman to 65/9 and won the game convincingly.
