Shreyas Iyer slams the fastest ton in a WC knockout
What's the story
Indian batter Shreyas Iyer continues his sublime run, hammering his second century in the 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup. His quickfire knock came against New Zealand in the first semi-final at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. Iyer added a century stand with Virat Kohli, who scored a record-breaking 50th ODI ton. The former now has the fastest ton in a World Cup knockout.
Knock
A blistering knock from Iyer
Iyer came to the middle after India lost skipper Rohit Sharma for 71 runs. The former joined forces with Kohli and paced India's innings in a sturdy manner. While Kohli constantly rotated the strike, Iyer went after spinners. Iyer smashed eight sixes en route to his century that came off 67 balls. He slammed a 70-ball 105 (4 fours and 8 sixes).
Record
Iyer attains these feats
As mentioned, Iyer now has the fastest-ever century in a World Cup knockout match. He broke the record of Australia's Adam Gilchrist, who smashed a 72-ball ton against Sri Lanka in the 2007 World Cup final. Iyer also became India's third centurion in the ODI World Cup semi-finals. He joined Kohli (vs NZ, 2023) and Sourav Ganguly (vs KEN, 2003).
Feat
First number-four batter with this World Cup record
Iyer became the first batter to score over 500 runs at number four in a World Cup edition. He went past New Zealand's Scott Styris, who smashed 499 runs in the 2007 World Cup. Iyer now has 526 runs from 10 matches at an incredible average of 75.14 in the ongoing World Cup. The tally includes a strike rate of 113.11.
Information
Consecutive tons in ODI World Cups
In India's previous encounter, Iyer smashed an unbeaten 128 against the Netherlands, his maiden World Cup ton. Iyer has become only the third Indian with consecutive tons in ODI World Cups. He joined Rohit and Rahul Dravid.
Information
Most sixes by an Indian in a WC innings
Iyer smashed 8 sixes against New Zealand, now the most by an Indian batter in a World Cup innings. He surpassed Ganguly (7 vs SL, Taunton, 1999) and Yuvraj Singh (7 vs Bermuda, Port of Spain, 2007).
Century
Third-fastest WC ton by an Indian batter
Iyer now has the third-fastest ton by an Indian in ODI World Cups. He went past Kohli (83 balls vs Bangladesh, 2011) and Virender Sehwag (81 balls vs Bermuda, 2007). Iyer is only behind KL Rahul and Rohit in this regard. Notably, both Rahul (62 balls vs NED) and Rohit (63 balls vs AFG) achieved this feat in the ongoing World Cup.