Australia's Josh Inglis smashed a 43-ball century in his side's second T20I against Scotland on Friday, setting a new national record in the process.
The first T20I between the sides was one-way traffic, as a blistering knock from Travis Head helped Australia chase down 155 in just 9.4 overs. In the second one, Scotland elected to field first and were rewarded almost instantly as Brad Currie knocked over Head for a golden duck in the second over. Jake Fraser-McGurk soon followed, for a run-a-ball 16.
Inglis came in at No.3 and after taking a few balls to settle, began to get into the stride of things in the sixth over. With a scoop, pull and cover drive he collected six, six and four off Brad Wheal. Inglis reached his half-century in the ninth over off 20 balls, with an inside-out shot for six over covers off Mark Watt.
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The Australian wicketkeeper continued to find boundaries with regularity, rarely looking as if he had truly cut loose but accumulating runs at speed. In the 18th over of the innings, he reached the three-figure mark with identical, consecutive sixes off Currie. Inglis was tied down after that, though. His next five balls yielded just three runs, before he smacked Chris Sole straight to Richie Berrington at cover.
Josh Inglis breaks Australian record for fastest T20I century
Inglis took 43 balls to reach his century, breaking the Australian record for the fastest player to the mark in terms of balls faced. In men's internationals, Inglis was one of the previous record holders along with Glenn Maxwell and Aaron Finch, all of whom had all recorded centuries off 47 balls.
But in women's T20Is, Australian legend Alyssa Healy had managed a century off 46 balls, against Sri Lanka in October 2019 en route to an unbeaten 148 off 61 balls.
Inglis' effort against Scotland now means he is the quickest to the mark among all Australians, men or women. He still has some way to go for the overall record, though. The men's record is currently held by Estonia's Sahil Chauhan (27 balls vs Cyprus) and the women's record by West Indies' Deandra Dottin (38 balls vs South Africa).
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