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There are seldom any better sights in the cricket world than seeing a batter in his or her purple patch. There have been many cricketers who have hit this purple patch by scoring consecutive centuries. In the below article, we will take a look at who has the record for scoring most consecutive centuries in ODIs.
Most consecutive centuries in ODIs: Kumar Sangakkara
The ODI record for most consecutive centuries is held by Kumar Sangakkara. The legendary Sri Lankan batter achieved this feat during the 2015 ODI World Cup. The 2015 ODI World Cup turned out to be his last match in the format as he bid farewell to 50-over cricket with a legendary record next to his name. Here is a look at his four innings that etched his name in the history books.
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vs Bangladesh
In their third game of the tournament, Sri Lanka won the toss and elected to bat first and the batters backed that decision superbly by scoring 332 runs in the first innings. Lahiru Thirimanne was the only batter to be dismissed. The opener scored 52 runs in 78 balls while Tillakaratne Dilshan and Kumar Sangakkara scored centuries. Sangakkara scored 105 runs in 76 balls hitting 13 fours and one six but the limelight was stolen by Dilshan. Dilshan scored 161 runs in 146 balls hitting 22 fours. Dilshan also took two wickets in the second innings and capped off the brilliant all-round performance with the Player of the Match award. Both of their centuries proved to be vital in their team’s win by 92 runs.
vs England
England won the toss at Wellington and opted to bat first. England got off to a positive start and scored 62 runs in the powerplay with the loss of just one wicket. Ian Bell opening the batting missed out on a half-century by just one run while Joe Root batting at number four scored 121 runs in 108 balls hitting 14 fours and two sixes. England scored 309 runs in the first innings losing six wickets. All six Sri Lankan bowlers picked up a wicket each. Chasing 310, Sri Lanka once again got off to a great start as openers Thirimanne and Dilshan shared a century opening stand. Previous match’s POTM, Dilshan was dismissed after scoring 44 runs in 55 balls. Sangakkara and Thirimanne then guided Sri Lanka to a nine-wicket victory. Sangakkara won the POTM award for his high-striking century. The wicketkeeper batter scored 117 runs in 86 balls hitting 11 fours and two sixes. Sri Lanka won the match by nine wickets with 16 balls remaining.
vs Australia
Sri Lanka faced off against the co-hosts, Australia in their fifth game. Australia decided to bat first after winning the toss. Sri Lanka started on a positive note in the first innings and restricted Australia to 49 runs and dismissed David Warner and Aaron Finch. Steven Smith and Australian skipper, Michael Clarke shared a 134-run partnership for the third wicket. Both Smith and Clarke made half-centuries but it was Glenn Maxwell who stole the show.
Maxwell scored the second-fastest World Cup century at that time. The Australian all-rounder scored his century in 51 balls. His century now ranks fourth in terms of fastest centuries in World Cup history. Shane Watson too played a great cameo of 67 runs in 41 balls. Maxwell was dismissed by Thisara Perera after scoring 102 runs in 53 balls hitting 10 fours and four sixes. Watson too was dismissed by Perera, he hit seven fours and two sixes. Australia scored 376 runs in the first innings.
Chasing 377 runs, Sri Lanka got off to a poor start as Thirimanne was dismissed in just the second over. Dilshan and Sangakkara shared a century stand for the second wicket. Dilshan was dismissed after scoring 62 runs in 60 balls hitting eight fours. Sangakkara scored a century but he received little support from his other teammates. Sangakkara was dismissed by James Faulkner after scoring 104 runs in 107 balls hitting 11 fours. This was Sangakkara’s first century which came at a rate of lower than run-a-ball. Dinesh Chandimal played a great cameo lower down the order scoring 52 runs in just 24 balls but after hurting his right hamstring he had to retire out. Sri Lanka went on to lose the match by 64 runs.
vs Scotland
In their final group stage game against Scotland, Sri Lanka elected to bat first. Alasdair Evans got the early breakthrough for Scotland by dismissing Lahiru Thirimanne. Dilshan and Sangakkara once again provided stability in the top order. The duo shared a 195-run stand for the second wicket before Dilshan was dismissed. Dilshan scored 104 runs in 99 balls hitting 10 fours and one six but it was once again Kumar Sangakkara who not only broke the record for most consecutive centuries in ODIs but did so in an incredible manner. Sangakkara scored 124 runs in just 95 balls hitting at a strike-rate in excess of 130 and smashed 13 fours and four sixes. His knock along with Dilshan’s century as well as quickfire cameos from Angelo Matthews and Kusal Perera played a crucial part in Sri Lanka scoring 363 runs in the first innings and winning the match by 148 runs.
Three consecutive centuries in ODIs
Before Kumar Sangakkara broke the record for most centuries in ODIs, there were some players who had hit three consecutive centuries in ODIs. The first player to hit three centuries was Pakistani batter, Zaheer Abbas in 1982. All three centuries came against India in Pakistan. After Abbas, his compatriot Saeed Anwar achieved the feat in 1993 in Sharjah. Three South Africans, Herschelle Gibbs (in 2002), AB de Villiers (in 2010) and Quinton de Kock (in 2013) are next on the list. Ross Taylor achieved the feat in 2014 while Babar Azam recorded three centuries in a row in 2016 before doing it again in 2022. Jonny Bairstow scored three consecutive centuries in 2018 and in the same year, Virat Kohli became the first Indian to score three consecutive centuries in ODIs. Rohit Sharma in the 2019 World Cup hit three consecutive centuries. Fakhar Zaman was the latest entrant to this illustrious list by achieving the feat earlier this year against New Zealand in Pakistan.