IPL 2026

Fastest Century in IPL History — Top 10 Quickest Hundreds

Deepak Soni 31 March 2026 Updated 31 March 2026 ~9 min read ~1,633 words

Fastest Century in IPL History — Quickest Hundreds Record

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Fastest Century in IPL History — Every Record-Breaking Hundred

A century in T20 cricket is rare. A fast century in the IPL — against some of the best bowlers in the world, with millions watching — is one of the hardest things to achieve in modern sport. It requires sustained aggression, perfect timing, and the nerve to keep attacking when one mistake ends your innings.

Chris Gayle holds the record for the fastest century in IPL history: 100 off just 30 balls for Royal Challengers Bangalore against Pune Warriors India in 2013. That innings eventually became 175 not out off 66 balls — the highest individual score in IPL history.

This guide covers the top 10 fastest centuries, the fastest fifties, the match context behind each landmark innings, and which venues produce the most centuries.

Top 10 Fastest Centuries in IPL History

Every century on this list required a batsman to score at a strike rate above 200 for a sustained period. These are not slogfests — they are masterclasses in controlled aggression.

Rank	Player	Balls	Score	4s	6s	SR	Team	Opponent	Season
1	Chris Gayle	30	175*	13	17	265.15	RCB	PWI	2013
2	KL Rahul	32	132*	14	7	191.30	KXIP	RCB	2020
3	Chris Gayle	34	117	7	12	205.26	KXIP	RR	2018
4	Rishabh Pant	37	128*	15	7	203.17	DC	SRH	2018
5	David Miller	38	101*	8	7	175.43	GT	MI	2023
6	AB de Villiers	39	133*	12	8	225.42	RCB	MI	2015
7	Adam Gilchrist	42	109*	10	9	231.91	DC	RR	2009
8	Chris Gayle	42	128	7	13	206.45	RCB	DD	2012
9	Virender Sehwag	42	122	12	6	210.34	DD	CSK	2014
10	Quinton de Kock	43	140*	10	10	200.00	LSG	KKR	2022

The Stories Behind the Fastest Centuries

Chris Gayle — 30 balls vs PWI (2013)

The greatest innings in IPL history. Gayle walked out to bat at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium and treated every Pune Warriors bowler with equal contempt. He reached his fifty in 17 balls, then accelerated. By the time he reached 100 off 30 balls, the Pune fielders looked shell-shocked. He did not stop until 175 not out.

What makes this innings extraordinary is not just the speed — it is the timing. Gayle hit 17 sixes in a T20 innings. Several went out of the ground entirely. Rahul Sharma, Ashoke Dinda, and Wayne Parnell were all dispatched with the same dismissive flick of the bat. RCB posted 263/5, which remained the highest IPL total until 2024.

KL Rahul — 32 balls vs RCB (2020)

KL Rahul's century came in the very first match of IPL 2020 in Dubai. Opening the batting for Kings XI Punjab, Rahul dismantled RCB's bowling with clinical precision. Unlike Gayle's brute force, Rahul's hundred was about placement and timing — he found gaps that did not seem to exist and manipulated the field with surgical accuracy.

Rahul finished on 132 not out, and KXIP posted 206/3. The innings announced him as the most complete T20 opener in world cricket at that time.

Rishabh Pant — 37 balls vs SRH (2018)

A 20-year-old Rishabh Pant walked out at Kotla and played one of the most audacious innings the IPL has ever seen. His 128 not out off 63 balls included a century in 37 deliveries, and his shot selection was outrageous — reverse scoops, lofted drives over extra cover, and flat sixes down the ground.

This innings put Pant on the global map. Within a year he was playing Tests for India in Australia. The IPL century was the springboard.

AB de Villiers — 39 balls vs MI (2015)

If you could bottle genius, it would look like AB de Villiers batting at 7 pm under lights at Chinnaswamy. His 133 not out off 59 balls (century in 39) against Mumbai Indians was 360-degree batting at its finest. He scored all around the wicket — conventional drives, reverse sweeps off fast bowling, and scoops over fine leg.

MI had Malinga, Mitchell Johnson, and Harbhajan Singh in their attack. ABD made them all look ordinary. This innings confirmed what cricket already knew: de Villiers could play shots that no other human could play.

For more on these batsmen's career stats, check our IPL records page and individual player profiles like Virat Kohli.

Top 15 Fastest Fifties in IPL History

The fastest fifties are even more explosive than the centuries because they represent pure acceleration — no innings-building required.

Rank	Player	Balls	Score	Team	Opponent	Season
1	Pat Cummins	14	56*	KKR	MI	2024
2	KL Rahul	14	51	LSG	GT	2022
3	Sunil Narine	15	109	KKR	RR	2024
4	Chris Gayle	17	175*	RCB	PWI	2013
5	Abhishek Sharma	16	75	SRH	MI	2024
6	Yusuf Pathan	15	72	KKR	MI	2010
7	David Miller	17	101*	GT	MI	2023
8	Suresh Raina	16	87*	CSK	KXIP	2014
9	Andre Russell	17	88*	KKR	SRH	2019
10	Axar Patel	17	66*	DC	SRH	2021
11	Nicholas Pooran	18	77	SRH	RR	2022
12	Travis Head	18	117	SRH	RCB	2024
13	Glenn Maxwell	18	95	KXIP	SRH	2014
14	Kieron Pollard	17	87*	MI	CSK	2021
15	Liam Livingstone	18	66*	PBKS	CSK	2022

Pat Cummins' 14-ball fifty against MI in 2024 was absurd. A number 8 batsman, coming in at the death, hit 5 sixes and finished the chase in a single over. It was the fastest fifty by a non-specialist batsman in IPL history.

The 2024 season features four times in the top 15, reflecting the aggressive batting approach that defined that year.

Most Centuries in IPL History

Scoring one IPL century is hard. Scoring multiple across different seasons against different attacks proves you are a generational talent.

Rank	Player	Centuries	Matches	Highest
1	Virat Kohli	8	245	113
2	Chris Gayle	6	142	175*
3	Jos Buttler	5	82	124
4	David Warner	4	176	126
5	KL Rahul	4	118	132*
6	AB de Villiers	3	184	133*
7	Shane Watson	3	145	117*
8	Faf du Plessis	3	116	120*
9	Quinton de Kock	3	92	140*
10	Brendon McCullum	2	109	158*

Virat Kohli leads with 8 IPL centuries — four of them came in the legendary 2016 season where he scored 973 runs. His ability to bat deep and convert starts into big scores is what separates him from other IPL centurions. Most of Kohli's centuries came chasing, which adds another dimension of difficulty.

Chris Gayle's 6 centuries include the three fastest hundreds ever scored in the IPL. While Kohli has more centuries, Gayle's were more destructive — his average century came off 40 balls compared to Kohli's 53.

Which Grounds Produce the Most Centuries?

Not all venues are equal when it comes to century-scoring. Here is the data.

Ground	City	Total Centuries	Notable Centurions
M. Chinnaswamy	Bengaluru	22	Gayle, Kohli, ABD, du Plessis
Wankhede	Mumbai	15	Warner, de Kock, McCullum
Arun Jaitley	Delhi	10	Sehwag, Pant, Dhawan
Eden Gardens	Kolkata	9	Narine, McCullum, Gambhir
Chepauk	Chennai	7	Raina, Watson, Vijay

Chinnaswamy dominates with 22 centuries — more than double the second-placed Wankhede. The combination of short boundaries, true bounce, fast outfield, and dew in evening games creates perfect batting conditions. If you are picking Dream11 teams for Bengaluru matches, expect high scores.

For venue-specific analysis, see our IPL 2026 complete venue guide and Arun Jaitley pitch report.

Centuries in IPL Finals and Playoffs

The pressure of knockout cricket makes centuries even harder. These are the most memorable hundreds in high-stakes IPL matches.

Player	Score	Balls	Match	Result	Season
Shane Watson	117*	57	CSK vs SRH (Final)	Won	2018
Wriddhiman Saha	115	55	SRH vs RCB (Final)	Won	2016
Chris Gayle	104*	53	KXIP vs KKR (Playoff)	Won	2014
Brendon McCullum	158*	73	KKR vs RCB (Opening)	Won	2008

Shane Watson's 117 not out in the 2018 IPL Final is the definitive big-match century. CSK were chasing 179 against SRH's strong bowling attack, and Watson carried his bat through the entire chase. At 36 years old, it was the innings of a lifetime and cemented his IPL legacy.