Scoring a century in the 20-ver format is really something special because you don’t have enough of time to settle down and in most cases, you may not have enough of deliveries to get to that landmark. And now, getting a century in cricket’s new 100-ball format is even more special because there’s even less time and deliveries possible to face.
We’re talking about The Hundred which originated in 2021 and no batter in the men’s or women’s competitions managed to get to the 3-figure mark in the inaugural season. However, midway through The Hundred 2022 and we’ve got the first century in this format, that goes to the name of Will Smeed from the Birmingham Phoenix.
Will Smeed hits century in The Hundred
It would surely have to be an incredible innings if you manage a century in The Hundred and that’s what 20-year old Smeed managed last night. It was 10th August 2022 and Phoenix were batting first on the day, in Match 8 of the men’s competition. And what followed was absolute carnage from the bat of the youngster, hitting the ball to all corners of the park.
There are so many national team players and more experienced batters in the league but it was this youngster barely out of his teens who got to this milestone first, hitting 101(50)* in an innings which included 8 fours and 6 big maximums. While Smeed is yet to play for the national side, he’s got plenty of franchise league experience for sides like Somerset, Bangla Tigers, and Quetta Gladiators.
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Here, he brought all of that experience into play and brought up his fifty on the 59th ball of the 100-ball innings for Phoenix. He did it with a fine six over long off against Jake Lintott who recently ended as one of the top bowlers in the 2022 T20 Blast in England. From there, he put his head down and continued to motor along, ensuring he got to the 3-figure mark as well.
As wickets kept falling at the other end, Smeed kept his composure and brought up the century on the 99th ball of the innings, coming back for a double to bring up his maiden century as well as the tournament’s maiden century. He was facing against one of England’s finest T20 bowlers Chris Jordan and unfortunately, the 100th ball of the innings ended as a dot ball.
However, you can’t take anything away from Smeed who helped Phoenix put up 176/4 in their 100 balls. He took a particular liking to the bowling of George Garton against whom he got 43 off his 15 balls. Interestingly, Liam Livingstone held the previous highest score in The Hundred and he is also in the same team, so it’s quite the packed batting lineup for this side. Take a look at that Will Smeed century moment:
HISTORY MAKER!!! 🤯
Will Smeed take a bow 👏 pic.twitter.com/w1vztnUnOQ
— Sky Sports Cricket (@SkyCricket) August 10, 2022
Eventually, Phoenix ended with a 53-run victory as they restricted Southern Brave to 123 all out, getting all ten wickets within just 85 balls and completing a comprehensive victory indeed. For Brave, Alex Davies top scored with 33(24) but that was nowhere close to being enough. With the ball, Henry Brookes picked up 5/25 in his quota of 20 balls.
“Yeah obviously was a great feeling. Edgbaston is always known for its crowd. It is a learning lesson that you don’t need to hit every ball out of the park. T20s are a strange format. I think this was a great performance. Hopefully, we can get on a roll from here,” said Man of the Match Will Smeed at the end of the game.
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