Fastest century in IPL history: Chris Gayle’s 30-ball hundred still stands
Chris Gayle holds the record for the fastest century in the IPL, reaching 100 off 30 balls for Royal Challengers Bangalore in 2013.
May 18, 2023 · Updated Sep 30, 2026
That innings finished on 175 not out from 66 balls, against Pune Warriors at Bengaluru on 23 April 2013, and it is still the highest individual score in IPL history. Thirteen years on, nobody has got to a hundred faster: the closest is Vaibhav Sooryavanshi’s 35 balls in 2025.
How the fastest hundred is measured
“Fastest century” means the fewest balls taken to reach 100, not the length of the whole innings. Gayle reached three figures off his 30th ball and then batted on for another 36. Sooryavanshi’s 103 against Hyderabad in 2026 came off 37 balls in total, but the hundred itself arrived on the 36th.
Fastest centuries in IPL history
Every IPL hundred reached in 45 balls or fewer, to the end of the 2026 season. Balls to 100 from ESPNcricinfo’s record list, checked ball by ball against Cricsheet; final score with balls faced in brackets.
| Player | Balls to 100 | Final score | Team | Opponent | Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chris Gayle | 30 | 175* (66) | Bangalore | Pune | 2013 |
| Vaibhav Sooryavanshi | 35 | 101 (38) | Rajasthan | Gujarat | 2025 |
| Vaibhav Sooryavanshi | 36 | 103 (37) | Rajasthan | Hyderabad | 2026 |
| Yusuf Pathan | 37 | 100 (37) | Rajasthan | Mumbai | 2010 |
| Heinrich Klaasen | 37 | 105* (39) | Hyderabad | Kolkata | 2025 |
| David Miller | 38 | 101* (38) | Punjab | Bangalore | 2013 |
| Travis Head | 39 | 102 (41) | Hyderabad | Bengaluru | 2024 |
| Priyansh Arya | 39 | 103 (42) | Punjab | Chennai | 2025 |
| Abhishek Sharma | 40 | 141 (55) | Hyderabad | Punjab | 2025 |
| Will Jacks | 41 | 100* (41) | Bengaluru | Gujarat | 2024 |
| Adam Gilchrist | 42 | 109* (47) | Deccan | Mumbai | 2008 |
| AB de Villiers | 43 | 129* (52) | Bangalore | Gujarat Lions | 2016 |
| David Warner | 43 | 126 (59) | Hyderabad | Kolkata | 2017 |
| Ryan Rickelton | 44 | 123* (55) | Mumbai | Hyderabad | 2026 |
| Sanath Jayasuriya | 45 | 114* (48) | Mumbai | Chennai | 2008 |
| Mayank Agarwal | 45 | 106 (50) | Punjab | Rajasthan | 2020 |
| Jonny Bairstow | 45 | 108* (48) | Punjab | Kolkata | 2024 |
| Ishan Kishan | 45 | 106* (47) | Hyderabad | Rajasthan | 2025 |
| Tilak Varma | 45 | 101* (45) | Mumbai | Gujarat | 2026 |
A teenager has two of the three fastest
Vaibhav Sooryavanshi is second and third on the list, and both innings came for Rajasthan at Jaipur. He reached 100 in 35 balls against Gujarat in April 2025, in his first IPL season, and finished on 101 from 38 with 11 sixes. A year later he took 36 balls against Hyderabad on the way to 103 from 37, with 12 sixes.
Before Sooryavanshi, the next-fastest after Gayle had been Yusuf Pathan’s 37 balls against Mumbai in 2010, which was the IPL record until Gayle’s innings three years later. Heinrich Klaasen matched Pathan’s 37 for Hyderabad against Kolkata in May 2025.
The list has been rewritten since 2024
Eleven of the 19 hundreds in the table have come since the start of the 2024 season. Only eight were made before that: Gilchrist and Jayasuriya in the first season, Pathan in 2010, Gayle and Miller in 2013, de Villiers in 2016, Warner in 2017 and Mayank Agarwal in 2020.
Chris Gayle vs Pune Warriors, 2013
Gayle came in at the start of the innings and hit 13 fours and 17 sixes, reaching his hundred off 30 balls and finishing unbeaten on 175 from 66. Royal Challengers Bangalore made 263 for 5, Pune Warriors were held to 133 for 9, and the match was won by 130 runs.
Both records from that afternoon still stand: the fastest hundred, and the highest individual score.
For the six-hitting record across all Twenty20 cricket, including the IPL, see our list of the players with the most sixes in T20 cricket.
Interested in cricket betting? Check out our list of top cricket betting sites.
Photo credit: Alamy