Fastest century in international cricket (female)

Deandra Dottin (Barbados) took 38 balls to reach three figures for the West Indies against South Africa in the first match of the ICC Women’s World Twenty20 at Warner Park, Basseterre, St Kitts, on 5 May 2010. Batting at No.6, Dottin’s 37-minute blitz included nine sixes and five fours, with her second fifty coming off just 12 balls.

In a decade of Twenty20 Internationals (T20Is) since Dottin’s explosive innings, the closest any woman has got to the 38-ball mark was when Australian opener Alyssa Healy smashed 100 off 46 balls, playing against Sri Lanka at the North Sydney Oval in Australia on 2 October 2019, in what was the 773rd women’s T20I staged. In the history of women’s T20Is (i.e., since 5 August 2004), just two other players – England’s Tammy Beaumont (47 balls) and India’s Harmanpreet Kaur (49 balls), both in 2018 – have made it to three figures after facing less than 50 balls.

The men’s T20I record stands at 35 balls, achieved by three players, while AB de Villiers’ 31-ball ton for South Africa in a One-Day International against the West Indies in Johannesburg, South Africa, on 18 January 2015 is the fastest international hundred by a man or woman across all three formats of the game.

Dottin was the first woman to score a T20I hundred, in what was the 62nd match to be staged in the format. She finished on 112 not out off 45 balls as the Windies amassed 175 for 5 in their 20 overs. The tournament (inaugurated in 2009) was won by Australia, who collected the first of their five trophies (2010, 2012, 2014, 2018 and 2020). Dottin was a member of the West Indies team who triumphed in 2016.