Ravi Bopara smashed an astonishing hundred in the shortened T20 Blast quarter-final between Northamptonshire and Surrey on Wednesday (September 3).
The start to the first quarter-final between Northamptonshire and Surrey at The Oval was delayed due to rain. With the match reduced to 14-overs-a-side, Surrey won the toss and chose to field first and started off brilliantly. Opener Ricardo Vasconcelos was dismssed off the first ball of the match, bringing Bopara to the crease at No.3. Captain David Willey then followed, caught behind off the last ball of the first over by Jordan Clark.
Ravi Bopara stuns with third T20 hundred
Bopara was joined by Tim Robinson at No.4, who hit two fours and a six in the second over to get things going for Northamptonshire. At the end of three overs, the team score read 19-2, of which Robinson had scored 15 off 8 and Bopara 3 off 6. From thereon, the veteran all-rounder flipped the script.
He hit a six with the first ball of the fourth over, and after Robinson was dismissed in the fifth, Bopara dominated a fourth-wicket partnership of 47 runs with Justin Broad, who only contributed 9 off 10 balls. Bopara reached 50 two balls after Broad's dismissal in the ninth over, off 24 deliveries. From 59 off 28 at the end of 10 overs, he accelerated to 103 off 45 by 13.5, scoring 46 runs off the last 18 balls he faced.
With his third T20 hundred, Bopara took Northamptonshire to 154-4 in 14 overs, which proved seven runs too many for Surrey despite captain Sam Curran's 38-ball 69* from No.4.
Aged 40 years 122 days on the night of the knock, Bopara became the fourth batter to hit a T20 hundred at more than 40 years of age after Paul Collingwood, Graeme Hick, and Faf du Plessis.
Bopara's last T20 century had come two years back, when he made 108 against Kent in the 2023 T20 Blast. His quarter-final hundred has taken his run-tally in the 2025 T20 Blast to 453 from 15 games at an average of 45.30 and strike rate of 146.12. He needs 21 more runs to eclipse his previous-best Blast season, which came in 2010 when he scored 473 runs at 33.78 and 128.88.
The semi-finals and final will be played on September 13. With three more quarter-finals to go, Northamptonshire's semi-final opponents are yet to be decided.
1st Quarter Final, Surrey vs Northamptonshire
vs
- Ball by ball Over
T20 centuries after turning 40, full list
| Player | Age | Score | For | Against | Venue | Year |
| Paul Collingwood | 41y 65d | 108* (60) | Durham | Worcestershire | Worcester | 2017 |
| Graeme Hick | 41y 37d | 110 (49) | Worcestershire | Northamptonshire | Kidderminster | 2007 |
| Faf du Plessis | 40y 351d | 103* (53) | Texas Super Kings | MI New York | Dallas | 2025 |
| Faf du Plessis | 40y 342d | 100 (51) | Texas Super Kings | San Francisco Unicorns | Dallas | 2025 |
| Ravi Bopara | 40y 122d | 105* (46) | Northamptonshire | Surrey | The Oval | 2025 |
Image credit: x.com/@NorthantsCCC
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