SA vs WI: Johnson Charles smashes Gayle’s long-standing record with fastest Windies T20I ton off 39 balls

Windies batter Johnson Charles scored a hundred off just 39 balls against South Africa during the first innings of the ongoing 2nd T20I in Centurion on Sunday. The explosive right-handed batter broke legendary Chris Gayle’s record of the fastest hundred by a Windies player in T20Is. In 2016, against England during the T20 World Cup group game in Mumbai, Gayle hammered a 47-ball ton that saw Windies chase down 183 in the 19th over.

Thanks to a record-breaking hundred by Charles today, Windies also registered its highest score of 258 at the SuperSport Park. Coming to bat inside the first over, Charles started slamming the South African bowlers to all parts of the ground.

Charles completed his fifty off 24 balls inside the eighth over, which is also the fastest against South Africa in T20Is. Soon after, alongside opener Kyle Mayers, the pair stitched together a hundred-run plus stand in the following over.

Charles put in the fifth gear as he approached his hundred. Taking down each bowler with sheer power and pure timing, Charles became the third player after Romania’s Sivakumar Periyalwar (against Turkey in 2019) and Hungary’s Zeeshan Kukikhel (against Austria in 2022) to reach the three-digit-mark on 39 balls.

It also is the second-fastest T20I ton in world cricket as the record for the fastest hundred in the shortest format is jointly held by three players – they include India’s Rohit Sharma, South Africa’s David Miller and Czech Republic’s Sudesh Wickramasekara, all of whom did it in 35 balls.

Meanwhile, even after completing his maiden T20I hundred, Charles didn’t stop and instead continued attacking Proteas’ best bowler on the day, Marco Jansen – who eventually picked his wicket in the 14th over. Following his dismissal, Windies’ lower order took the onus and helped them reach a mammoth total of 258 for five in 20 overs.

As things stand, South Africa, in their chase, has crossed the 84-run-mark inside the fifth over with experienced opener Quinton de Kock completing his fifty off just 15 balls.