Top 10 Fastest Centuries in Women’s T20I History

Sixteen years ago, Deandra Dottin walked out at Warner Park and reached three figures in 38 balls, a mark that still stands untouched today. Since then, only a handful of batters have gotten anywhere close, and the most recent name to crack the list belongs to New Zealand’s Amelia Kerr. This countdown of the fastest centuries in Women’s T20I history runs from the pack chasing the record all the way up to the innings that started it.

What Makes a Fast Century in Women’s T20I Cricket

Context matters more than the raw ball count suggests. A batter needs support from partners at the other end, a pitch that rewards clean hitting, and often a total that demands urgency from ball one. Twenty overs leaves almost no margin for a slow start, which is exactly why centuries in this format remain rare even as scoring rates keep climbing across Women’s T20I records more broadly.

Here is a quick snapshot of what separates the merely quick from the genuinely historic:

• Under 40 balls: Dottin’s mark alone, unmatched for a decade and a half
• Mid-40s to high-40s: Alyssa Healy, Tammy Beaumont, and Harmanpreet Kaur, the closest anyone has come
• Low 50s: a tightly packed group, including the newest arrival, Amelia Kerr

Numbers 10 Through 6: The Chasing Pack

10. Hayley Matthews, 53 balls vs Australia, 2023

West Indies captain Hayley Matthews reached her century during a record-chasing effort against Australia on Australian soil. It was her second T20I hundred, and it arrived in a match her side went on to win, a detail that matters given how few fast centuries actually translate into victories.

9. Meg Lanning, 53 balls vs Ireland, 2014

Meg Lanning’s century at the 2014 Women’s T20 World Cup remains one of the defining innings of her career. She finished with 125 runs and ended the tournament as its leading run-scorer, proof that a fast hundred can anchor an entire campaign rather than just one match.

8. Rubina Chhetry, 52 balls vs Maldives, 2024

Nepal’s former captain Rubina Chhetry produced this century during an ACC Women’s Premier Cup fixture against the Maldives, helping her side post one of the highest totals recorded by an Asian associate nation in the format. It is a reminder that fast centuries are not confined to the game’s biggest teams.

7. Danni Wyatt-Hodge, 52 balls vs India, 2018

England’s Danni Wyatt-Hodge brought up her century against India in 2018, setting up what became one of the highest successful run chases in Women’s T20I history at the time. Her innings blended calculated aggression with the kind of composure that keeps a chase on track rather than collapsing under its own tempo.

6. Meg Lanning, 51 balls vs England, 2019

Lanning shows up twice on this list, which says plenty about her consistency at the top of the order for Australia. Her second entry, an unbeaten century against England in 2019, arrived a shade faster than her 2014 effort and reinforced her reputation as one of the format’s most complete batters.

The Top 5: Icons Who Redefined Power-Hitting

5. Fargana Hoque and Amelia Kerr, 51 balls (joint)

Bangladesh’s Fargana Hoque set this mark back in 2019 against the Maldives at the South Asian Games, becoming only the second Bangladeshi woman to reach a T20I century. More than six years later, Amelia Kerr matched it, reaching an unbeaten 101 off 51 balls against Zimbabwe at Seddon Park in February 2026, her maiden T20I hundred and the joint fifth-fastest in the format’s history. Kerr followed it up weeks later with a second century, 105 off 55 balls against South Africa at Hagley Oval, making her the first New Zealand woman to score two Women’s T20I centuries.

4. Harmanpreet Kaur, 49 balls vs New Zealand, 2018

Harmanpreet Kaur became the first Indian woman to score a T20I century with this innings at the 2018 Women’s World T20, and the knock remains one of the format’s genuine landmark moments for Indian cricket. It came off just 49 balls, a strike rate that would still turn heads if it happened tomorrow.

3. Tammy Beaumont, 47 balls vs South Africa, 2018

England’s Tammy Beaumont has built a career on adaptability across formats, and her 47-ball century against South Africa in 2018 showed she could match the format’s most explosive players when the situation called for it. It remains the fastest century by an England woman in T20I cricket.

2. Alyssa Healy, 46 balls vs Sri Lanka, 2019

Alyssa Healy’s unbeaten 148 off 61 balls against Sri Lanka in 2019 stood for years as the highest individual score by an Australian woman in the format. Her century inside that innings came up in 46 balls, and the full knock included 17 fours and seven sixes, the kind of ratio that turns a good total into an unreachable one.

1. Deandra Dottin, 38 balls vs South Africa, 2010

Deandra Dottin’s innings at the 2010 Women’s T20 World Cup was the first century in Women’s T20I history, and it has never been threatened since. She reached three figures in just 38 balls before finishing unbeaten, at a strike rate that remains the benchmark by which every fast T20I innings, male or female, gets measured. Think of it the way sprinters still measure themselves against a world record set decades earlier. Plenty of batters have gotten close to Dottin’s mark. Nobody has touched it.

Why Amelia Kerr’s Entry Matters for the Next Generation

Kerr’s arrival on this list is not just about one fast innings. She is New Zealand’s captain, still only in her mid-twenties, and already owns records in both the ODI and T20I formats. Having a genuine all-rounder capable of a 51-ball century gives New Zealand a different kind of threat than a specialist top-order basher, since Kerr can also change a game with the ball. Her second century within weeks of the first suggests this was not a one-off, which is exactly the kind of pattern that tends to push a player’s name further up lists like this one over time.

How These Records Might Fall Next

Domestic T20 cricket has already shown what is possible outside the international arena. Kiran Navgire’s 34-ball century for Maharashtra in India’s Women’s T20 Trophy, and Sophie Devine’s earlier 36-ball hundred for Wellington, both point to a ceiling well below Dottin’s international mark. It suggests the record is not physically out of reach, it is simply a matter of the right batter meeting the right bowling attack, the right ground, and the right match situation on the same day at international level.

FAQs

Who holds the record for the fastest century in Women’s T20I history?

West Indies all-rounder Deandra Dottin holds the record, reaching her century in 38 balls against South Africa at the 2010 Women’s T20 World Cup.

How fast was Amelia Kerr’s T20I century?

Amelia Kerr reached her maiden Women’s T20I century in 51 balls against Zimbabwe in February 2026, the joint fifth-fastest in the format’s history, and followed it with a second century weeks later against South Africa.

Has any batter come close to breaking Dottin’s record?

Not yet at the international level. Alyssa Healy’s 46-ball century against Sri Lanka in 2019 is the closest anyone has come since Dottin’s innings in 2010.

Are fast domestic T20 centuries different from T20I records?

Yes. Domestic competitions have produced faster centuries, including a 34-ball hundred in India’s Women’s T20 Trophy, but these do not count toward international T20I records like Dottin’s mark.