The Hundred
The Hundred: Records
Love it or hate it, the Hundred made its return two weeks ago for its fourth edition, with a notable increase in international players hopefully making it more of an interest to the ever-sceptical English audience.
It may only have three years under its belt, but to set the scene for the upcoming month of white-ball franchise action, below are some of the prominent records in the men’s version since its inception in 2021.
Highest Total
The record for the highest total in the Hundred came at Headingley when the Manchester Originals posted 208-5 against the Northern Superchargers in 2022, in what equated to a franchised version of the traditional Yorkshire/Lancashire Roses rivalry.
Opening batsman Phil Salt was awarded man of the match for a blistering 55 off 25, but it was really a group effort that catapulted the Originals to such a big score, with all of their top three of Salt, Laurie Evans and Tristan Stubbs scoring 45 runs or more at a strike rate of over 200.
The Superchargers replied with 185 in the second innings – a fine score when taken out of context – but ended up losing the game by 23 runs.
Lowest Total
On the opposite end of the spectrum, the lowest score in the history of the Hundred came in a game that also featured the Manchester Originals, this time at Old Trafford. When the hosts put up 154/6 against Birmingham Phoenix, with Phil Salt again the standout performer with 56, few could have predicted how poor the Phoenix batting card would have read.
They reached 53-2 after 35 balls, slightly behind the rate at the time, but were spectacularly blown away for 75 all out, losing their final eight wickets for a meagre 22 runs. Man of the match Tom Hartley starred with the ball, taking four wickets and going for just 22 runs from his 20 deliveries as the Originals restricted their visitors to the smallest total since the Hundred was conceived.
Highest Individual Score
Oval Invincibles and Surrey batsman Will Jacks holds the record for the highest individual score in the Hundred when his side faced off against the Southern Brave at the Oval in 2022. After restricting the visitors to a below-par 138, the Invincibles got off to the worst possible start in their reply when Jason Roy was bowled by George Garton in the second ball of the innings.
It then fell to the imperious Jacks to take the initiative. The Englishman blasted 10 fours and 8 sixes en route to scoring 108 not out, chasing down the Brave total almost completely by himself. Particularly given the fact the Hundred is 20 balls fewer than conventional T20s, to score a century in this format really is an astonishing achievement.
Leading Run Scorer
The record for the highest amount of runs scored across the four editions of the Hundred is held by Southern Brave star James Vince. The right hander thrives in the domestic format and has amassed 814 runs since the tournament’s inception in 2021, including 258 in this year’s edition at the time of writing – over 100 more than Nicholas Pooran in second.
Vince isn’t the most powerful hitter in the tournament but his style and technique, particularly through the off-side, makes him an imperious batsman to face. His highest score of 90* off 47 balls against Birmingham Phoenix this year is certainly one of the classiest innings the tournament has witnessed.
Most Wickets
Bowlers are often forgotten in this format, particularly with their figures reduced to simply “balls” instead of the traditional “overs”, but the consensus from the first three years has arguably been that the sides with the strongest and most varied bowling attacks win the tournament, with batsmen commenting on the amount of swing produced by the balls in the opening overs.
Spoils are shared between two English bowlers for the title of who holds the most wickets in the four editions of the tournament so far. Southern Brave’s Tymal Mills and Northern Super Chargers’ Adil Rashid are the men at the top of the list, both taking 34 wickets from 25 and 28 matches respectively.
