Chris Gayle features three times in the quickest tons, while AB de Villiers has two entries
ESPNcricinfo staff12-Mar-2017AB de Villiers (47 balls), Royal Challengers Bangalore v Mumbai Indians, IPL 2015
It takes something special to reduce Virat Kohli to a side show. That’s what AB de Villiers did in a group match against Mumbai Indians in 2015. His 133 off 59 balls dominated a 215-run partnership with Kohli and took Royal Challengers to a winning total of 235. De Villiers started his innings with five dot balls, but then unleashed a barrage of boundaries, 19 in all, to go with four sixes. Two other centuries, from Virat Kohli and Andrew Symonds, also came in 47 balls, but De Villiers’ final score of 133 puts him at 10th on this list.Chris Gayle (46 balls), Royal Challengers Bangalore v Kings XI Punjab, IPL 2011
Chris Gayle announced himself as an IPL icon in 2011. He began his campaign with a century in Kolkata, and then, on Royal Challengers’ home pitch in Bengaluru, took apart the Kings XI Punjab bowling attack, scoring 107 off 49 balls. He took 13 balls to get his first six runs, then hit Ryan Harris for consecutive straight sixes. He hit seven more sixes in his innings, most of them straight, and led Royal Challengers to a total of 205, which proved to be more than enough. Gayle didn’t stop for the rest of the tournament, hitting three more half-centuries and finishing the highest run-getter.Chris Gayle (46 balls), Royal Challengers v Kings XI Punjab, IPL 2015
By 2015, quick centuries were almost expected of Gayle in the IPL. This was his fifth, and his third at the M. Chinnaswamy stadium. He was tentative early on, but finished with 117 off 57 balls. The highlight of the knock was taking Mitchell Johnson for 20 runs in an over. Royal Challengers reached 226 and completed what was then their biggest victory in the IPL, winning by 138 runs.M Vijay (46 balls), Chennai Super Kings v Rajasthan Royals, IPL 2010
Before 2010, M Vijay was considered more a long-format player than a Twenty 20 one. But he was a crucial part of Chennai Super Kings’ successful IPL campaign in 2010. He came into the home match against Rajasthan Royals on the back of scores of 42 and 78. Royals kept bowling to his strength, providing him straight length balls. He thumped the ball repeatedly through the leg side, hitting 11 sixes on his way to 127 off 56 balls. The match ended up being a run-fest, with Royals coming within 23 runs of Super Kings’ 246.Sanath Jayasuriya (45 balls), Mumbai Indians v Chennai Super Kings, IPL 2008
At the Wankhede Stadium, where he had smashed a memorable151 not out in the Independence Cup 11 years before, Sanath Jayasuriya struck 11 sixes on his way to 114 off 48 balls against the Chennai Super Kings. Mumbai were set 157 to win, and Jayasuriya carried them home inside 14 overs. Jayasuriya brought out all his trademark shots, the lofted drive over extra cover, the slash over backward point and the flick over square leg, against the seamers and used the paddle and reverse-sweep effectively against his Sri Lanka team-mate Muttiah Muralitharan. Another Sri Lankan, Chamara Kapugedara, copped the worst of the punishment, going for 26 runs in five balls.AB de Villiers (42 balls), Royal Challengers Bangalore v Gujarat Lions, IPL 2016
Both AB de Villiers and Virat Kohli, probably the best two best limited-overs batsmen in the world at the time, were at their best in a record partnership of 229. The only real competition was between the two, and de Villiers won the race to a century. He struck 12 sixes and 10 fours in his 129 off 52 balls. Even good deliveries were hit for boundaries – pitched-up legspinners were square driven, topspinners hit over backward point and yorkers scooped over fine leg. The records kept tumbling as Royal Challengers inflicted a 144-run defeat on Lions.Chris Gayle tees off during his record-breaking 175 off 66 balls•BCCIAdam Gilchrist (42 balls), Deccan Chargers v Mumbai Indians, IPL 2008
Adam Gilchrist needed just 12 overs to take Deccan Chargers past Mumbai Indians’ 154 at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai. Gilchrist hit 77 runs through the leg side, pulling incessantly in his 109 off 47 balls. He hit 10 sixes and nine fours while his captain, VVS Laxman, had to contribute just 37 to a partnership of 155.David Miller (38 balls), Kings XI Punjab v Royal Challengers Bangalore, IPL 2013
When David Miller came to the crease in Kings XI Punjab’s home group game against Royal Challengers Bangalore in 2013, his side were in trouble, needing 140 to win off 12.2 overs with seven wickets in hand. Kings XI soon lost another wicket and a post-mortem of another defeat had begun. Then David Miller did what he had threatened to do in previous games, and pulled off a remarkable heist. The carnage began in the 14th over, when, after being dropped at point, Miller took 14 runs off the next three balls. He kept it simple after that, hitting sixes mostly in the V, and reached 101 off 38 balls. So destructive was his batting that what looked like an unattainable target at one stage was eventually hauled down with two overs to spare.Yusuf Pathan (37 balls), Rajasthan Royals v Mumbai Indians, IPL 2010
It was an innings Shane Warne described as the best he had seen in his 21-year career. Yusuf Pathan’s 100 off 37 balls in Mumbai in 2010 was a remarkable achievement considering his team were floundering in a chase of 213. Pathan hit eight sixes and nine fours and nearly pulled off what would have been a stunning victory. The innings contained one incredible period of 11 balls from which Pathan took 54 runs. There were some brutal hits for six, but also some deft shots to steer yorkers to the point boundary.Chris Gayle (30 balls), Royal Challengers Bangalore v Pune Warriors, IPL 2013
One of the criticisms of T20s is that outstanding performances are often quickly forgotten because of the frenetic rate at which they come. But Chris Gayle’s 175 off 66 balls in Bengaluru, in 2013, isn’t hard to remember. It remains the highest score in a T20 and contained the fastest hundred in any form of professional cricket. At one point, the world had to confront the ridiculous proposition of a double-century, once thought to be implausible even in a 50-over game. Most sixes in a T20 innings (17), highest score by a team (263) and so on; the records kept tumbling during Gayle’s knock, and his team ended up winning by a massive margin.
