Stats: Eoin Morgan hits one of the fastest centuries in World Cup history

Eoin Morgan deserves much of the credit for changing the face of England’s limited-overs cricket after the debacle of 2015 World Cup. It was under his captaincy that the team was humiliated in that tournament and he not only changed his style of leadership but bought in reinforcements to make England an intimidating team in the 50-overs format.

It has had a lot to do with their batting approach and Morgan himself has led from the front with the bat and his record overall makes him perhaps the greatest England player in ODIs. The 32-year-old became the first player to play 200 ODIs for the Brits during the ICC World Cup 2019 and now has also entered the record books by scoring one of the fastest centuries in the history of the ICC mega event.

Morgan completes century vs Afghanistan in 57 balls

England is currently playing Afghanistan in the 24th match of the tournament and is already miles ahead in the competition thanks to the effort of their captain Morgan. England batted first and scored 397/6 in their quota of fifty overs. Bairstow made 90, Root made 88, while Moeen Ali (31* in 9 balls) played an important cameo.

Eoin Morgan came out to bat in the 30th over and had clear intentions from the start. He went after Rashid Khan, the star Afghan leg-spinner and completed his fifty in just 36 balls. He changed gears immediately and thumped a 57-ball century, which is the fourth fastest century in World Cup history.

Morgan ended up making 148 in 71 balls with 4 fours and 17 sixes. These 17 sixes also broke the world record of most maximums in one ODI innings that was jointly held by Rohit Sharma of India and AB de Villiers of South Africa, who both hit 16 sixes in one inning.

Meanwhile, the record for the fastest World Cup hundred stays with Ireland’s Kevin O’Brien, who smashed a 50-ball ton against England in that amazing chase of over 320 runs at Bengaluru in the 2011 edition of the tournament. Glenn Maxwell’s 51-ball century against Sri Lanka in 2015 and AB de Villiers’ 52-ball hundred against West Indies in the same edition take the no.2 and no.3 spot respectively.

(Stats as on June 18, 2019)