Will Young Smashes First Century of ICC Champions Trophy 2025

New Zealand’s Will Young made it to the headlines by scoring the first century of the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 in the opening match against Pakistan on 19 February.

He survived high-risk situations as there was a run-out shout against him when he was on 87 runs and again on 99 runs when the throw missed the stumps. However, he succeeded in scoring the first century of the tournament and reached the milestone in just 107 runs.

Will Young is known for his solid batting technique across all formats of cricket and is a significant player for New Zealand. His outstanding century included 11 first and a six which played a crucial role in stabilizing the team’s innings after 3 early wickets. He played 6 more balls after hitting his century and got out at 107 runs.

This century marks the fourth century and 10th half-century in his ODI career. He has played a total of 40 ODI matches and scored a total of 1508 runs.

Will Young’s Early Life and Career

Will Young was born in New Plymouth in 1992. He is a right-handed batsman who represents New Zealand in all formats of cricket. Young made his first-class debut and became a captain at the age of 23. Under his captaincy, the Central Stags won the one-day Ford Trophy and Plunket Shield in 2016 and 2018, respectively. He made his international cricket debut in 2020 against West Indies in a test match.

He made his ODI and T20 debut in 2021 against Bangladesh. He scored his first ODI century in 2022 against the Netherlands. His century against Pakistan in the ICC Champions Trophy is also the highest individual score by a New Zealand player against Pakistan in the tournament’s history.

He has also proved himself to be a notable player in Test cricket as he has played only 20 matches and scored 1063 runs with 134 fours and five sixes. His career-high record is 8233 runs scored in 131 matches in First Class cricket. He has also hit 2538 runs in 114 T20 matches with two centuries and 15 half-centuries.

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