Martin Guptill lights up T20 Blast with 35-ball century
Martin Guptill hammered a 35-ball century as Worcestershire thrashed Northamptonshire by nine wickets in the T20 Blast on Friday, July 27, evening.
The New Zealand opener’s knock comprised as many as 19 boundaries – 12 fours and seven sixes – and made a mockery of the seemingly tall target of 188 set by Northamptonshire. The chase was completed in just 13.1 overs.
Joe Clarke, with whom Guptill put on 162 runs for the first wicket, remained unbeaten at the end on a 33-ball 61.
Guptill got into his stride in a Richard Gleeson over that yielded 22 runs. The South African Rory Kleinveldt was also taken for 22 runs, as Guptill got to his half-century in just 20 balls.
ICYMI @Martyguptill walloped an astonishing 35-ball ?:
1️⃣0️⃣3️⃣0️⃣0️⃣1️⃣0️⃣4️⃣6️⃣4️⃣4️⃣4️⃣0️⃣4️⃣4️⃣2️⃣4️⃣4️⃣6️⃣6️⃣4️⃣1️⃣1️⃣1️⃣1️⃣6️⃣0️⃣6️⃣4️⃣1️⃣6️⃣4️⃣1️⃣4️⃣6️⃣
WATCH ➡️ https://t.co/HGWz9CnOYm pic.twitter.com/t5KZDa2Q1R
— Vitality Blast (@VitalityBlast) July 28, 2018
It took him just 15 more deliveries to double his score, as Seekkuge Prasanna, the Sri Lanka left-arm spinner, conceded 33 runs in his two overs. Nathan Buck, the medium pacer, gave away as many runs in his 2.1 overs.
The century was brought up with a flick over the mid-wicket fence off Kyle Coetzer, but Guptill couldn’t finish off the chase, holing out off Gleeson.
Guptill’s knock was the second-fastest century in England, behind Andrew Symonds’s 34-ball century for Kent against Middlesex in 2004.
Serious display for @Martyguptill over night wow!
— Mitchell McClenaghan (@Mitch_Savage) July 28, 2018
It was also the joint-fourth fastest T20 century. The 30-ball effort from Chris Gayle for Royal Challengers Bangalore against Pune Warriors in the IPL 2013 remains the quickest in T20 cricket.
India’s Rishabh Pant scored a 32-ball ton for Delhi against Himachal Pradesh in the their domestic T20 competition, the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, earlier this year.
In Twenty20 Internationals, India’s Rohit Sharma, the South African David Miller and Namibia’s Louis van der Westhuzien are among the fastest centurions.
