New Delhi:
The Twenty20 format has resulted in batsmen and batting playing aggressively, innovatively and ensuring bowlers get demoralised. The advent of Twenty20 has seen bats getting bigger, edges thicker and boundaries shorter. In the modern era, the fastest century in ODIs has fallen twice, with AB de Villiers of South Africa holding the current record of the fastest century in 31 balls. In Twenty20s, the fastest is 30 balls by Chris Gayle against Sahara Pune Warriors in IPL 2013. However, during an unofficial Twenty20 game in England, a batsman broke Gayle’s record to record a 25-ball century.
George Munsey, who plays for Scotland in international cricket and plays for Gloucestershire’s second XI, played in a Twenty20 game against Bath Cricket Club’s first XI and created history. The left-hander smashed a fifty off 17 balls but he got to his next fifty in just eight balls. In the process, he reached a century off just 25 balls, five balls quicker than Gayle’s effort. Munsey blasted 147 off 39 balls and he was well assisted by GP Willows, who blasted a century off 53 balls. The efforts by Munsey and Willows allowed Gloucestershire 2nd XI to reach 326/3 in 20 overs.
💪 147 runs
— ICC (@ICC) April 22, 2019
😱 39 balls
💥 20 sixes
6ï¸âƒ£ sixes in an over@CricketScotland's @GeorgeMunsey smashed a 25-ball 💯 for @Gloscricket Second XI yesterday!
READ 👇https://t.co/HIDwmBzpKr pic.twitter.com/f2X8yU5q7X
Munsey’s knock included five fours and 20 sixes. The tally of sixes is also the highest, beating the mark of Gayle where he blasted 17 sixes in his knock of 175. Gloucestershire won by 112 runs as Bath CC XI managed to score 214 in their 20 overs.
Although Munsey’s record will not be counted, it is still a staggering achievement. He also hit six consecutive sixes and ensured there was thorough entertainment. In 26 Twenty20 Internationals for Scotland, Munsey has a strike-rate of 150 and his highest is 71. In ODIs, he has an average of under 30 in 16 games and in four First Class games, he averages 56 with just one century and one fifty.
Gayle blasted 175 off 66 balls during Royal Challengers Bangalore’s game against Sahara Pune Warriors in the IPL 2013 encounter at the M Chinnaswamy stadium. His tally included 13 fours and 17 sixes and he notched up his century off 30 balls, all of which are records which have not been broken in this format.
