On New Year Day 2014, Shahid Afridi’s century record gets broken spectacularly by Corey Anderson

In ODIs, the record for the fastest century in the format was held by Shahid Afridi of Pakistan during the 1996 match against Sri Lanka in Nairobi. The century was made off just 37 balls and it was a record which stood for a long time. When the New Year came in 2014, the first international match featured New Zealand taking on West Indies at Queenstown. It seemed like an ordinary match and at one point, it seemed that the match would not even take place as rain played spoilsport. When a single ball was not bowled for at least three to four hours, then it seemed that the match would be abandoned.

However, the rain relented and what followed was an assault which redefined cricket in 2014. In a match reduced to 21-overs-per-side, New Zealand spectacularly unleased a brutal bout of batting against the West Indies which left the visitors shell-shocked and struggling to find the answer. It launched a young New Zealand all-rounder in the international spotlight and made him a household name for over an year.

West Indies won the toss and chose to bowl in Queenstown and they had success with Martin Guptill falling cheaply. Brendon McCullum blasted 33 off 11 balls as New Zealand went past fifty in just the fifth over. However, when McCullum fell, it looked West Indies held the advantage. In came Corey Anderson, the left-hander who had shown glimpses of his talent. However, on New Year’s Day in 2014, Corey Anderson would forever change his life as well as New Zealand’s fortunes with a magnificent assault.

Fastest 100

Corey Anderson smashed sixes at will and he raced to his fifty off just 20 balls. After reaching the first milestone, Corey Anderson was in fine form as he continued pummeling the West Indies bowlers. In the 18^th over, Corey Anderson was on 95 but in the first ball, he launched left-arm spinner Nikita Miller to long leg to reach his century off just 36 balls. The 17-year record of Shahid Afridi. ‘Folklore, Folklore’ was the call of the on-air commentators as Corey Anderson rewrote the history books.

Corey Anderson ended on 131 off just 47 balls and his knock included 14 sixes, two less than the record set by Rohit Sharma in 2013. New Zealand won the match by 159 runs as they defended 284 in 21 overs. Such was the ferocious assault by Corey Anderson that Jesse Ryder’s century, which became the sixth fastest in ODIs, was overshadowed.

For 382 days, Corey Anderson was the player who held the record for the fastest century. In January 2015, though, that record was broken by AB de Villiers and once again West Indies faced the full fury. AB de Villiers notched up the fastest fifty and smashed a century off just 31 balls to dethrone Anderson and become the batsman with the fastest ODI century in history. He also equaled Rohit Sharma’s record of most sixes hit in an innings. Later on, in the 2015 ICC World Cup, AB de Villiers would also hit the fastest 150 in ODIs also against the West Indies.