Meet batter with fastest 100 in T20I, it's not Gayle, De Villiers, Rohit, Maxwell, Afridi, Buttler, Kohli

Namibia's Jan Nicol Loftie-Eaton made history in T20 International cricket by achieving the fastest century, taking only 33 balls in a game against Nepal. This broke the previous record set by Nepal's Kushal Malla, who had reached a century in 34 balls during the Asian Games in 2023.

In this remarkable innings, the 22-year-old left-handed hitter scored 101 runs off 36 balls, with 11 fours and eight sixes. Loftie-Eaton's incredible strike rate of 280.56 helped Namibia reach a total of 206/4 in 20 overs, batting first after winning the toss. The team had a good start with openers Michael van Lingen and Malan Kruger contributing 36 runs in the initial six overs.

A brilliant century by Jan Nicol LoftieEaton pushes Namibias total to 2064 in 20 overs#NepT20I | #OneBallBattles | #NepalCricket #HappyDressingRoom | #WorldCupYear2024v pic.twitter.com/TsdvdusGJ7

ricketNep February 27, 2024

Facing a challenging situation at 62/3, Loftie-Eaton collaborated with Kruger to form a spectacular 135-run partnership for the fourth wicket. Despite Loftie-Eaton being dismissed in the final over, his performance added a layer of poetic justice as Malla, the previous record holder, witnessed his achievement being surpassed.

Born on March 15, 2001, Loftie-Eaton is primarily known as a leg-spin bowler. Surprisingly, before his record-breaking century, he had struggled in T20 International batting, averaging 10.70 in 32 matches with a strike rate of 100.55.

With this feat, Loftie-Eaton leads the list of fastest T20I centurions, followed by Malla. Notable names like David Miller, Rohit Sharma, and Sudesh Wickramasekara share the joint third spot, all achieving T20I hundreds in 35 balls. Miller's century came against Bangladesh in 2017, Rohit Sharma's innings was against Sri Lanka in 2017, and Wickramasekara's notable performance occurred against Turkey in 2019.