During a South group fixture of the ongoing 21st season of T20 Blast at Kennington Oval, Australian and Surrey all-rounder Sean Abbott went on to smash the joint-fastest century in the history of the tournament. It took a mere 34 balls for Abbott to get his name registered in the record books of the premier English T20 League.
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Playing against Kent, the 31-year-old came into bat at No. 6 after Surrey had lost their four wickets at the score of 64. It was only post the 13-over mark that Abbott had really gone hammer and tongs at the opposition bowlers.
The highlight of his innings tonight was the 17th over bowled by Kent pacer Kane Richardson. With the help of six fours and as many sixes, the New South Wales batter collected 30 runs off the over to have the entire crowd up on their feet.
Staying unbeaten till the very end, the bowlers had no respite as Abbott amassed 110* runs off just 41 balls, with the help of four fours and 11 mammoth sixes.
Fastest T20 Blast Century
Abbott’s 34-ball ton has leveled him right at the top alongside Andrew Symonds in the list of players to have scored the fastest T20 Blast hundred.
Opening the batting for Kent during the 2004 edition, Symonds, too, had scored a 34-ball ton against Middlesex in Maidstone. Abbott has now also joined the late Aussie cricketer on the fourth spot in the list of players to have scored the fastest T20 format hundred.
His innings has taken Surrey’s innings total to a challenging 223/5 in their 20 overs.
“That’s not going to sink in for a while. Privilege to be talked about in the same breath as Roy [Andrew Symonds]. Had a bit of luck but that was a lot of fun. Grateful for the opportunity tonight,” remarked Abbott during the mid-innings break.
List of Batters With Quickest 100 in Vitality T20 Blast
| Batter | Balls faced | Team | Versus | Year |
| Sean Abbott | 34 | Surrey | Kent | 2023 |
| Andrew Symonds | 34 | Kent | Middlesex | 2004 |
| Martin Guptill | 35 | Worcestershire | Northants | 2018 |
| Scott Styris | 37 | Sussex | Gloucestershire | 2012 |
| Dan Christian | 37 | Nottinghamshire | Northants | 2018 |
